The Pleasantview Story by David West 2
by jks11235813
Summary: And the story in Pleasantview continues. If you haven't read the first story, please do.
1. Prologue

**Author's note: please read this before starting and reviewing my story.  
**_I would just like to say that I'm trying to improve my writing constantly and this is somewhat an old story of mine. I SERIOUSLY apologize for the grammar or spelling errors and the inconsistencies, I've learned to pay more attention to them (I'm really ashamed of them). Reviews are good as long as they're helpful, so don't waste your time telling me you hated it. Just move on.  
Also, I might be re-writing completely this story in the future (to get rid of those stupid mistakes once and for all), and, as you might know, if I were an excellent writer, I would be selling books, not writing internet fanfic stories. And even those guys take two or three (or more) tries to get a perfect story. Thank you for understanding that._

Prologue

_Dina was standing by the doorway, wearing her white short dress Don had given her for their third anniversary. He was in the kitchen, reading the newspaper and drinking a cup of coffee. Dina had stayed up throughout the night thinking of a way to tell him what she wanted to say; now that she was about to do it, she figured there was no better way than just say it and try to sound as confident as you can._

_ "I wanna go back to Pleasantview" she said._

_ Don put the cup down and folded to newspaper, but he didn't move._

_ "Why?" he asked with his low voice._

_ "I wanna see my sister."_

_ Since they were never in love with each other and the fights were constant, they got used to be rude to each other. One more fight wouldn't make that much difference._

_ "If you want to see your sister, ask her for a picture. If you want to talk to her, you call her."_

_ Don had developed that way of ending every discussion with a phrase that could not be questioned by any matters. Most of the times Dina would just look down and walk away to avoid another pointless fight, but this time she had made up her mind and wasn't gonna give up so easily._

_ She made a fist and her teeth clenched._

_ "I want to go back" she repeated._

_ Don turned around and looked her up and down._

_ "We're not going and I don't wanna hear a thing about it" he said, standing up._

_ "I can go alone" she replied._

_ "Fine. Where are you gonna get the money for that?"_

_ Dina swallowed and her eyes became wet, but she controlled the tears._

_ Since they moved away from Pleasantview, Don was in charge of the issues around the money. The moment Cassandra got the inheritance, a portion of that was transferred to Don's account, so he packed everything, told Dina to do the same and disappeared from that small town, wishing to God that he would never have to step a foot there again. Since then, the two of them started living their dream lives: parties, drinking, money... each week a different place, different people, and all the money they could spend. Even when the baby was born they still partied; the little boy named Jake spent most of his days with the babysitter while his parents were out with strangers._

_ But then the money started to diminish; Don rushed to find a job and thanks to the contacts he had made, he got into the business of real estates and became a realtor. Then money started getting in again._

_ Unfortunately, things weren't the same as before. The fights became even more common and it seemed that those two years were never coming back. The only thing that kept Dina from completely breaking down was to see her boy growing up. It was what made her want to live each day and the next one close to that man._

_ "Why can't we go back?"_

_ He gave her a mocking laugh. He did that often._

_ "Dina, do you have any idea of what would happen if he went back there? Everybody there hates us, Dina. _Believe_ me. Even your sister. She probably thinks you were too weak to run away. How would you like to hear that from her?"_

_ He held her arms strongly, hurting her. It was his way of showing that he was the stronger one in there._

_ One lonely tear rolled down her right cheek._

_ Don went by her and she stayed there, her body shivering because of the anger that she was keeping inside. Fortunately, Jake showed up asking for a glass of milk and Dina stopped thinking about it. She avoided thinking about bad things while she was around him._

_ That night, while she lay still in bed, almost falling out of it because she wanted to be as far as possible from Don, Dina let the tears roll, and they did. There were so many reasons to cry for that she didn't know which one she was actually crying for. And that moment all she wanted was to have her sister close to her, telling her that it was going to be okay, like she always did._

_ The next day they didn't say a thing to each other. Dina took Jake to the park and while he played with his friends, she sat down and talked to their moms. Don stayed at home, like he did most of the times._

_ When she got back, he was in the living room, watching the news. He didn't even look at her; it was like she didn't exist. She went to the kitchen and grabbed a sandwich from the fridge and started eating. He showed up at the door minutes later._

_ "I changed my mind" he said. "We're going back to Pleasantview."_


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter One

I thanked the crowd for the applauses and then the six of us left the stage. In the back, we congratulated ourselves and said goodbye right after. I took my guitar and walked Nina out of the bar to the Honda parked on the corner.

"You know you don't have to come every night" I said, my hands in the pockets of my jacket.

"I know" was all she said.

We got in the car and went to Daniel's house where we had left Steven and Leonard. The older one was six years-old and the younger, five. Every Sunday night that I had to play at the "Rock Cabin" and Nina couldn't stay with the kids, we left them with Daniel and Mary-Sue. They were glad to do with, since their daughters were already twenty-five and were living elsewhere, so it was nice to have some kids around again. Daniel told me that Mary-Sue couldn't wait to have her first grandson.

We thanked both of them for watching the kids once again and then the four of us returned to our house on the hill. Steven and Leonard were both tired and they stumbled to their beds the moment we walked in. Nina and I took a little longer to fall sleep, as we stayed outside in the balcony, talking. When it was late enough, we went to bed because she had to get up early.

The last six years life had been good enough for both Nina and me. I had sold many books, making me a famous writer in the big cities, and occasionally I was asked to come to a bookstore and sign some books. My editor was arranging all that for me. And besides my writer's life, I started playing at the "Rock Cabin" in the downtown area of Pleasantview. Matthew, a guy I met more than six years ago, had a band but it was hard to find a decent singer. I decided to give it a try and I immediately became the lead singer. Of course we had three other men that sang, including Matthew, so I wasn't all alone. The band became my third favorite thing.

In six years, a lot of things happened with the people I knew: the twins finished college, Lilith was spending one year in Italy and Angela was living with Dirk in a house on the other side of town. They had gotten engaged right after college and they said the wedding wasn't so far away. Their parents were very happy about it.

Dustin was working with advertising and was living in a small house in Rockshore. Every weekend he came to Pleasantview and stayed with his mother. His younger brother, Alex, was studying physics in college, now already eighteen years-old. Dustin told me that now he liked people calling him "Axel".

But the more important thing that happened these last years was the fact that Cassandra and Darren finally got married. Two years after I got married with Nina, Steven was one year-old and Nina was pregnant with Leonard, they started hanging out together. There was nothing in their way, actually there was nothing in Darren's way, so one year later they got engaged and finally got married. There was a big ceremony at a church with a bunch of guests and it was a hell of a party. We had to leave early, though, because Steven and Leonard started getting sleepy and when they did that, nothing could stand in their way.

Over these years my life was very limited to those people. Of course I met a lot of other people all the time and even made new friends, but they were the ones that I had more contact with. And there were two people I thought I would never see again.

One of these days I was sitting in the living room with the TV on, Nina was at work and Steven and Leonard were at school. During the break, I went to the kitchen to drink water, and when I came back, I noticed something outside that hadn't been there before. The blue house on the other side of the street, two houses to the right from ours, was on sale for more than three months, and now there was an enormous truck parked in front of it. A lot of men came in and out of the house carrying the furniture (which wasn't new at all, but was very fancy), and the sign "on sale" was gone.

I stood by the window, opened the blinds and took at look at the truck. Obviously a moving truck. Someone had bought that house and was moving in, and there was nothing interesting about it, just new neighbors for us. But my eye caught something before I could return to the couch.

A blonde woman walked down the front steps of the house but then disappeared behind the truck. It couldn't be who I thought it was, but when she reappeared, I had no doubt.

Dina was exactly the same from the last time I had seen her. Of course she had aged, but she was still a very attractive woman. Her hair was longer and a little darker, and she was wearing jeans and a white blouse. She looked like a model, just like her sister, and from that distance, you couldn't tell that she had had baby.

I stayed there for five more minutes, but Dina had gotten into the house again and didn't show up for a long time. I came back to the television and on the next break I went over to the window again.

A man wearing a blue T-shirt and jeans was carrying two chairs inside. I only saw the back of his shirt, but when he came back seconds later to get more chairs, I knew it was Don. He hadn't changed that much either, he was just older. I felt my heart go up to my throat when I saw that man entering the house.

After what happened after Cassandra's father's funeral, I thought I would never see those two faces again, even if it was by mistake. Don took a lot of Cassandra's money from their shared account and moved away with Dina, who by the time was pregnant with his baby. Their disappeared and we didn't hear from them for more than six years; Cassandra tried to find him to get her father's money back, but it was useless. We had no idea of where Dina and Don could be.

Now I was watching them take boxes out of the truck and bring them inside their new house. There was no doubt that they had bought that house and were ready to live there. But why? I had no idea. I was only sure of one thing: knowing Don the way I, and everybody else, did, they couldn't be here for good.

I spent the whole afternoon going from the couch to the window, but nothing interesting happened. They stayed the whole afternoon unloading the truck, and the only thing else that happened was that I saw their little boy once. He had been sitting in the law during the whole time, but the truck was in the way, so I couldn't see him. One time that Dina came out to get something from the truck, and he stood up and followed her inside, talking to her. His hair was brown and straight and he was carrying an expensive videogame in one hand. He couldn't be much older than Steven.

At five o'clock I had to go to the school and pick up the boys, and Nina only came home at seven o'clock. We ate a pizza outside and then Steven and Leonard went to their bedroom to play videogames while Nina and I stayed in the living room.

"You don't know who moved in that house right there" I said, pointing the house with my head.

"Who?" she asked, still looking at the television.

"Your sister."

Nina had been lying on the couch. The moment she heard that, she jumped and sat straight, with her hands on her laps and a very shocked expression.

"What?"

"I saw them moving in this afternoon."

Her chin dropped. Like everyone else, she thought she would never see them again.

"You're kidding me."

"I'm serious" I said, giving her a smile. She was still incredulous.

"Why would they come back? It doesn't make any sense."

I shrugged.

"I don't know it either."

She looked through the window. The blue house just a few meters away from ours was dark except for the light on the second floor.

"Oh my God, I can't believe they're really back" she said, lying back on the couch.

"I just want to know what Cassandra's gonna do when she finds out."

"You're right…"

We stayed there discussing it for a few minutes and then I went to our bedroom to read a book. Nina came to bed at ten p.m., I turned off the lights and rolled over to sleep.

The next days we rarely saw Don or Dina. Every time Nina came back to the house she took a look at their new house, we speculated for a moment and then we forgot about it. She started saying she should go over there and talk to them, but I convinced her that was a terrible idea. They probably didn't know we lived there, so it was better to wait and see what they were up to. We didn't have to wait too long, though, because Dina showed up at our door that weekend.

I was outside watching TV while Nina was making a pie in the kitchen and the boys were playing with their toys in the living room. We all heard the doorbell and then Nina went there to get it. I heard muffled voices talking and then the door was closed and there was somebody else in the house. It was a woman.

I got in the house and saw Nina and Dina standing behind the couches, looking at the boys playing on the rug. Nina had her back to me, so the first one to see me was Dina.

She opened a smile and greeted me with a hug and a kiss, made me a compliment and I retributed it, and then she excused me, saying she wanted to talk to Nina alone. I gave her one last smile and left them alone, getting back to the television outside.

The two of them were there for almost two hours. The pie was ready and we all ate a piece. I gave the boys theirs and sat down to watch them. Dina finished her piece and went back to her house. Nina sat next to me and sighed.

"So?" I asked, and she told me everything Dina had told her.

Dina said she was really sorry for what she had done to everyone there and that she would never had done it if it wasn't for Don. That day, when she went over there to tell him she was pregnant, he came up with this plan of leaving town and going somewhere else to raise that kid, since he knew that after everybody else found out she was pregnant, they were all gonna crucify them. She agreed with the plan, but they had no money to just leave everything and move away. That's when he mentioned Cassandra's inheritance. Half was for her brother Alexander, who was twelve by then, so it meant that it was all going to her. And since they were married and had shared accounts, it wasn't so hard to get a very generous amount of money and run away.

Their son, Jake, was born two months after, but Don didn't seem to care about that. He only cared about the expensive things, the parties, the companies and that rich lifestyle they had obtained unfairly. Even though she didn't agree with everything, Dina could never say a thing because Don had become really aggressive and would have no problem throwing her and her son out. She decided it was better to stay quiet.

Six months ago, things changed when she said she wanted to come back to see Nina and maybe have a real life again. She missed her sister a lot and if she knew she would be so lonely and miserable with Don, she would've never run away with him. At first, he said no and that was it. But for once in her life she realized how much she wanted it and decided she wasn't gonna give it up so easily. Strangely, the next morning, Don said he would go after a house as soon as possible.

"Just like that?" I asked, interrupting Nina.

"Yes, she doesn't know what made him change his mind. She thinks he's planning something."

I agreed with her. Don was not the type of guy who just literally changes over night.

That night, when I went to bed, I spent almost an hour trying to create a reasonable explanation for that sudden turn of events. For seven years those two had lived a different life somewhere else, and now they were back and apparently they hoped everything would be okay again. It made no sense, but I got to the conclusion that not everybody in the world lives by the same rules I do, and it was possible that Don really believed he could get everything back to normal. If that was really his plan. Maybe he had his eyes on something else. Or _somebody_ else.

I started feeling sleeping and my thoughts faded as I started falling asleep.

_"Daddy"_

I opened my eyes and saw that small figure standing right in front of me, blocking my view. He was wearing his blue pajamas and was staring at me.

I sat on the side of the bed, rubbed my eyes and asked Leonard what was wrong.

"My head hurts and I can't sleep" he replied.

I turned around to see if Nina was still sleeping, and she was, so I took Leo by the hand, stood up and took him downstairs, to our kitchen.

"I think you have a fever" I said, putting my hand on his forehead.

I found the thermometer in the drawer and it confirmed that Leo had a little fever. I gave him a pill and sat with him on the sofa, stroking his head until he fell asleep. I gave him a soft kiss on the forehead and lay on the other sofa. I slept almost immediately this time.


	3. Chapter 2

_(A.N.) Oh my God! There was a piece of this chapter missing! I'm so sorry, I don't know WTF happened..._

Chapter Two

It was Monday morning and I was bored. I needed to find something to do, so I decided to take a walk. First I went to the top of the hill and sat in that small area with no trees from where you could see the ocean, while the cemetery of Pleasantview hid behind the trees. I sat there and watched the waves breaking and the surfers trying to ride them. I stayed there for half an hour before I went all the way down the road and stopped in front of Darren's house. I had arrived right at the moment he was leaving for work. I greeted him, we made small talk for awhile and then, when I was about to leave, he called me back.

I turned around.

"What?"

"Can you do me a little favor?"

He was between the open car door and the car, glaring at me through his glasses.

"If you're not busy today, can you come over and just… stay awhile with Cassie?"

I frowned but tried to hide my discomfort. I still remembered the last time I just "stayed awhile with Cassie".

"Why?"

He sighed.

"Did you know that Don and Dina Lothario are back?"

I nodded.

"So… he came here yesterday. And he said a bunch of things to Cassandra. She wouldn't tell me, but… I think she will tell you."

Now my eyebrows were raised. Where did all that confidence come from? Darren and I had never been really close and the last thing I would think he would ask was to take care of his wife. He knew all about that time she and I slept together and even though that didn't matter anymore, it wasn't something very comfortable for me to do.

"Did you ask her?"

"No, I couldn't ask her. That's why I think she'll tell you. Look, just come by and make her a little company, okay? I don't want her to be alone in here while that freak is out there."

And with that being said, he got in the car and left. I stood there watching he turn the corner and disappear while I had to stay there and deal with the task Darren had given me. I looked to the big house and swallowed. Cassandra was in there, probably sad and vulnerable, and God knows how much I would like to avoid that. But I guessed it was better than leaving her alone with Don around.

I walked to the park, next to where my old house was. I sat there and watched everyone and everything around me. Darren's words kept banging on my head and I was divided between protecting a friend and exposing myself to an "awkward situation" again. Reluctant, I decided to do it anyway.

I rang the doorbell once and I waited for Cassandra. She opened the door wearing blue shorts and a yellow top. Her eyes were red and there were light rings under them, and I was distracted by her bare legs, but I immediately looked away.

"David" she said, and gave me a forced smile that I retributed.

"Hi."

"Come in."

I once again stepped in and let her close the door behind me. We went to the room with the fireplace. There was a book lying on the couch. Flashbacks of six years ago kept coming to me and I kept pushing them away, trying as hard as I could not to remember that one night.

She sat down on one of the chairs and ran her hands through her hair. I could smell that nice smell that her house always had and…

"So?"

I stopped wondering and told her I was there because Darren asked me. She gave me an impatient sigh.

"He thinks I'm not safe here" she told me, and then added: "because Don is here."

"Is he dangerous?" I asked, skeptical.

She didn't answer.

Cassandra avoided my eyes all the time and I felt this growing need to make her look at me, but I kept that need to myself.

"Are you going to tell me what he was doing here yesterday?"

For the first time she looked at me and blinked. The light coming from the window made her eyes sparkle.

"Darren asked you to do it, didn't he?"

"Yes."

She sat hugged her knees and started telling me.

"Darren and I were watching TV in the living room when somebody knocked on the door and I went there to get it. Don was there and you know how shocked I was."

Cassandra said that with no emotion in her voice.

"He said we needed to talk and I told Darren to excuse us. Darren almost started a fight with him but I told him I could handle that myself. God, I had never seen Darren so mad."

One tear almost rolled down her cheek but Cassandra wiped it away immediately.

"Don wanted to give me back my money."

"All of it?"

"Yes. He had a check. I told him I didn't want it, it wasn't my money anymore."

"Why did you do that?" I asked with a soft voice and bent forward, resting my elbows on my knees.

"Because it's not the money I want, I told him. I wanted him to be sorry."

I saw Cassandra hold her crying but her eyes were all wet and she was so huddled in that chair that I barely saw her eyes. She was holding her legs and hiding her face behind them.

As she didn't say anything else, I asked her what Don had done, and I saw how hard it was for her not to cry.

"He told me he was really sorry, Dave" she mumbled between tears. "He told me he still loved me and would do anything in the world to have me back."

She swallowed before she continued.

"And I said 'What about your wife, Dina? Why didn't you say that seven years ago, before you ran away with that tramp?', and he just said 'She was carrying my baby, Cassie, I couldn't just leave her'. When he told me that…" she swallowed again, "when he told me that, I wanted to die."

I pressed my lips. Cassandra took a moment to cry and I didn't interrupt it. I sat there, silently, watching her cry.

"Did you know that she was pregnant?"

The question hit me and I wasn't ready for that. Again, I decided the truth was the best way to go.

"Everybody knew, Cassandra. Nina told me and after they ran away, I told the guys. I thought Darren had said something to you…"

She shook her head.

"No, we never talked about it."

Again, another moment for her to cry.

"Well, I told him it didn't matter how sorry he was, I didn't want his money and I didn't him back. And then he started touching me and saying some other things…"

Now she was crying openly with her face between her legs, her body swaying slowly on the chair.

"I don't want him here, David."

She raised her eyes to me, like she was begging me for something. I really wanted to take her in my arms and whisper that everything was gonna be alright, but I kept it to myself. They were innocent feelings but I couldn't let myself touch her again. I had never been really attracted to Cassandra, not the way I was to Nina, but I did feel some sort of affection for her, like she was part of my family and it was my job to take care of her. I didn't know why I felt that way for someone I barely knew.

"He's not going to hurt you…"

"No, no, he is" she interrupted me between sobs, shaking her head again. "He's worse than I've ever seen him, David. I don't want to be alone."

I swallowed. What was I doing there again? Her husband was supposed to be there. Her _stupid_ husband. God knows how hard this was. I had to deal with a situation I knew I hadn't done very good in the past and all I wanted now was to run away from that room and go back to my house, where I could be with my wife and my kids. Suddenly the room was smaller and I felt really uncomfortable. Cassandra was still sobbing between her legs.

"Cassandra, I won't let him hurt you" I said, standing up, determinate, and then immediately added "and Darren's not gonna let him hurt you either."

I guess my firm words sent her the message: she was supposed to be asking that to her husband, not to me. She raised her eyes from her lap and thanked me with a weak voice for being a good friend. I nodded and risked kissing the top of her head, then got out of there as soon as I could.

I walked back to my house and spent the whole afternoon reviving that scene in my mind. I tried to find an explanation for my behavior around that woman but I couldn't. Maybe if I hadn't slept with her in the past, if I didn't know she had feelings for me, maybe then things could be normal between us. I tried to make it normal this afternoon, but she was sad and vulnerable and who knows what could have happened if _I_ had tried to be nothing but a good friend? I guess there are some things that don't need to be explained after all.

That night, after Steven and Leonard had gone to bed, I made love to Nina and forgot about my early meeting with Cassandra.

In two weeks we received the news that Angela and Dirk were getting married. They got engaged during college, bought a house together in Pleasantview and that was it for three years or so. I constantly heard Daniel wondering when they were getting married, and he said that his daughter always changed the subject when he asked her that. When he found out that they had finally set a date for the ceremony, he invited us all for a small dinner party at his house one week before the "big day".

Nina, me and the boys got there early; only Angela and Dirk and Lilith were there. Nina gave Mary-Sue the pie she had made and they both went to the kitchen. I greeted the rest of the guests in the living room and then took Leonard and Steven outside because they wanted to play on the old swing in the backyard. It was no surprise, while I was standing outside, when Lilith showed up at the door and walked over to me.

Over the years Lilith had dropped that punk style that she had as a teenager; her make-up was lighter and the clothes were more discreet. It was a big change, but you could still see who was Lilith and who was Angela in a room they were both in.

"The older one does like to annoy the other one, right?" she asked me with a smile.

Steven kept making Leonard push him on the swing, constantly saying that the next time would be his time.

"He's very smart. Once he hid Leonard's toys and said Nina and I were sending him to Canada."

Lilith frowned at me. I smiled.

"I don't get it either."

We had a good laugh and she put her hands on her waist.

"Is Greg still teaching him?"

Greg is the pianist of our band. Lilith knew him because she had played with us a couple of times at the Rock Cabin, and most of the times she would sit with Greg before our performances just talk to him, have some laughs. When the boys turned five, I asked Greg if he could teach them a little something on the piano, and he agreed, so I had to drive them to his house once a week and wait for their classes. After a couple of months Leonard said he didn't want to anymore so Greg only taught Steven now. And he said he was very good.

Lilith and I were outside talking about the boys and the band for awhile when we heard the doorbell and someone else came in. I recognized Dustin by his voice, and within seconds he was standing outside with us, wearing a heavy jacket that I had seen on him many times before and a Pink Floyd T-shirt. He gave Lilith a kiss and shook my hand. I noticed she blushed a little when he kissed her, and it might just be my imagination, but she seemed a little shy around Dustin.

We stayed outside for awhile, talking, and then we heard people screaming in the house, but it was just Mary-Sue and her other daughter, Angela, calling the rest of the guests to come and eat.

It was good to have everybody gathered again. I didn't remember the last time we were all together like this and it seemed like Don and Dina's moving back had been forgotten. Of course I heard a couple of people mentioning it but it was quick and it didn't seem to matter.

We left around eleven thirty, but before we could get to our house I saw one police car parked on the other side of the street and a black Ford in front of it. The lights were on in several houses, curious neighbors wearing robes were gathering around the yellow tape and cops kept coming in and out of the blue house that was on sale for three months.

Nina realized what was happening and ran to the house the moment she stepped out of the car. She told me to take care of the boys while she checked it out.

I was curious but decided it was best for her to go first. It was late and our children were tired, so I tucked both of them in bed and told them I would be downstairs watching TV for awhile. Steven asked what was going on and I told him I didn't know, then I sat in the living room and waited, but not for too long. I wasn't a very big fan of waiting, so I went to the front door, opened it and stood there, observing the movement around Dina's house. I saw investigators with gloves and flashlights searching the perimeters of the house, and a couple of times a brunette came out of the house seeming very agitated. I didn't see Nina in that group of people standing before the yellow tape.

If Steven and Leonard weren't upstairs I would be there, but I had to stay back and take care of them. When a couple of neighbors were coming down the street, bored because nothing else was happening, I asked them what they knew.

"The man who moved in there was killed!" the guy told me.

"They said it was a bullet in the head" the woman added.

"Do they know who did it?" I asked.

"They don't know it yet."

"Okay, thank you."

They kept moving and entered a house a few meters away from mine. I didn't know those two, but I was living next to them for more than five years.

I saw the group of people start to diminish until it finally disappeared and all that was left was the police car and the black Ford in front of the house. An ambulance showed up around one a.m. and I saw them remove what could only be Don's dead body. After that, the investigators got in the black Ford, the cops in the police car and they all left, leaving the street in silence again. The lights all went off and I was still standing by my front door, waiting for Nina. She showed up five minutes later with her arm around her sister's shoulders.

They crossed the street and started walking towards me. Nina went by me without saying a thing, just giving me a deep look and leading her sister into our house. I closed the door and followed them.

Nina indicated our guest bedroom to Dina and I waited patiently in the living room. When Nina appeared on the doorway, I took her in my arms and finally got my answer.

"Don is dead" she whispered to me.

"Somebody killed him?"

She nodded.

"The detective said they can't know it for sure… But they're investigating it."

"Let's go" I muttered to her and followed her to our bedroom. When we were finally lying next to each other in our bed, she started telling me what happened exactly.

Dina had come home after a night out with some old friends. Don had stayed home, alone, and when she came back she found him dead in the kitchen. She didn't know what happened, she just called the police and when they arrived they made her wait and asked her all kinds of questions. Neighbors kept coming out of their houses and standing in front of hers with curious eyes. Luckily, Jake was having a sleepover at a friend's house and wasn't there to see all that.

The detectives searched her house and found a .22 Smith&Wesson in the closet, which she claimed to never have seen before, but they didn't seem to believe her. They took samples of her and Nina (DNA, fingerprints) and said they were gonna look into it and they might need to talk to her a few more times, and anyone else who could have anything to do with the "crime".

When Nina got there, the time we came home, they let her cross the yellow tape and she found her sister crying in the living room with a handkerchief over her mouth. After things cooled down, she invited her to stay with us.

"What do you think, David?" she asked me, holding my hand under the blankets and looking me in the eye.

"I've got no idea" I said, honestly.

"Everybody was at the party…"

"Well…"

Cassandra and Darren weren't there, and when I told that to Nina, she opened her eyes widely and her hand squeezed mine.

"Do you think…?"

"I've said, I don't know. But you gotta admit that it was weird they weren't there the moment Don was killed."

She rested her head silently on the pillow, gazing some point beyond my head. She was thinking, and as I didn't have anything else to say, I kissed her hand and told her goodnight. She answered me softly.

The next morning was very weird for all of us. Dina was at our house and both she and Nina seemed very depressed, avoiding any kind of conversation. Steven and Leonard were probably wondering who was Dina when she sat down at our table to have breakfast, so I told them she was their aunt.

"Where do you live?" Steven asked, always very curious.

"Aunt Dina lived in another city for a long time, Steve" I replied, as Dina didn't seem to care much about the little boy's curiosity. "Now she is back and we're gonna see her a lot of times from now on."

"You have a new cousin to play with" Nina added, forcing a smile to them.

"How old is he?" Steven kept asking.

"He is one year older than you."

Leonard and Steven kept discussing and making questions about Dina and Jake. Luckily they didn't say anything about an uncle.

We didn't hear a thing from the detectives for a week. They took away the Smith&Wesson and all the samples they could obtain from the house and didn't say anything for the rest of the week. Dina came back to her house (even though Nina insisted on her staying with us) and she had to have a rather uncomfortable conversation with Jake. She told him he was not going to see his dad again because someone had taken him away. Jake didn't seem to understand (he was only a seven years-old boy), but he got the message that daddy wasn't coming home anymore. It broke Dina's hear when she had to do that, but it was necessary.

I spent most of those days at home, thinking and writing. We went to the amusement park once but I still couldn't wash that sad expression off Nina's face. I bought her a small teddy bear and she seemed to get a little better, but I could still see that she was very worried about her sister.

Friday I was at our usual practicing space (there was a place downtown that rented "garages" for bands to practice) when we were interrupted by two detectives who had no problem showing their badges over and over again. One of them was the brunette I had seen at Dina's house and the other one was a tall man who wore glasses.

I excused the guys and stayed in the hallway with the two detectives.

"Are you David?" the woman asked, looking me up and down.

"Yes" I confirmed, and she showed me her badge, adding her name: Samantha.

"Can we ask you some questions, Mr. West?"

I was a little uncomfortable with her calling me Mr. West, but ignored it at the moment.

"Sure."

They asked me the regular questions: when was the last time you saw Don Lothario? How was his relationship with Mrs. Lothario? Could you think of anyone who would have any reasons to kill Don Lothario?

I answered it all very calmly, but all the time I wanted to tell that good-looking detective that there were so many people who wanted Don dead that it wouldn't matter who had done it after all.

"Mr. West, do you possess any kind of weapon in your house?"

"Never."

"Have you ever seen this gun?"

She showed me a photo of the .22 Smith&Wesson.

"No."

"Do you know Mrs. Dreamer?"

Dreamer? It was Cassandra.

"Yes. She was married to Don."

The look on the detective's face made me regret saying that the moment it came out of my mouth.

"They were married?" the male detective finally said something.

"Yes, Cassandra and Don were married for awhile before he left her and married Dina. She was pregnant at the time."

I decided that, since I had already caught their attention with the married thing, I should go through with it. In the end, it wouldn't matter so much what I had to say.

"Dina or Cassandra?"

"I'm sorry, Dina. They have a seven years-old son."

"And how did Cassandra react when she found out Don was having an affair with Dina?"

I shrugged.

"I have no idea, I wasn't really close to her at that time."

Samantha made a few more questions, I gave her Cassandra's address and then she finally let me go. When I came back into the room all the eyes turned to me and I had to tell them the police was investigating a murder that occurred next to my house and had to do with people I knew. The guys didn't make many questions and we got back to our practicing like nothing had happened at all.

I came home and Nina was there with Steven and Leonard. She asked me if I had talked to the detectives, because they showed up there in the afternoon and she gave them the address.

"I'm having a very bad feeling about this" I said to her as we finished eating and were leaving the dishes in the sink.

"Of course you are, someone's been killed" Nina mocked me, but she only did that because she was very nervous. You could sense the irritation in her tone of voice, and I hadn't seen Nina like that for a long time. I touched her arm to try to make her calm down.

"Nina, relax" I said to her.

She pushed my hand and ignored me. I grabbed her hand again.

"What do you want me to do, David?" she asked, raising her eyes.

"I want you to relax."

Nina looked down. From the open door we could hear the TV on in living room, Steven and Leonard watching it like they did every night after dinner.

"I don't get why you're so stressed" I said honestly.

"David, Don is dead!" she repeated.

"You don't have to act like this, Nina! You didn't even like him!"

I noticed the moment those words were left in the air for us. Nina was pretending to organize the sink while I once again was getting to my own stupid conclusions.

"Nina… Did you still have feelings for him?"

How could I know such words would make her so sad? In my mind I was asking her the most honest way I could, because it didn't really matter for me, I just wanted to find a way to make her better… But she looked at me with her wet eyes and whispered in a very low voice:

"I can't believe you said that."

Nina turned around and stormed out of there, leaving me completely confused. I heard her footsteps on the stairway. I didn't dare to go after her.

In six years of marriage it was rare the times I had seen Nina really sad or mad at something. I hated to see her that way and the only one I could blame was me, so I got mad too. The last thing I wanted was to hurt her.

I waited patiently in my office, writing, reading, browsing. Around ten o'clock I told Steven and Leonard to go to bed, turned off all the lights and went to my own bedroom.

Nina was lying still under the blankets, and she didn't say a thing while I took off my clothes and laid next to her. Not even when I kissed her neck and told her I was sorry and didn't mean to say it like that. She just muttered something I understood like "whatever" and continued to pretend to be sleeping.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

_Samantha Campbell left the papers all spread over the table and sat down with a cup of coffee in that small reunion room the department had separated for the detectives. Stewart and Cole were on their way and it wouldn't take more than ten minutes for them to get there._

_ She decided to review her work. Inside the folder she had been carrying around for the last thirty minutes were several photos, testimonies, exams… All that common paper work for an open case, and what she had seen so far wasn't very surprising._

_ The wife comes home after a pleasant night with some old friends and finds her dead husband with a hole in the head on the kitchen floor. Her sister lives across the street but she isn't there, and her little boy is at a sleepover. There are no signs of invasion or struggle, so he knew his killer, but didn't know his intentions. An old Smith&Wesson was found inside the wife's closet and ballistics confirmed the bullet found in the body was fired from that weapon. Two sets of fingerprints were found all over the kitchen counter, and one of them belonged to the victim itself. The other one was not in the system._

_ Samantha had ruled out the wife as the killer itself after checking her alibi with one of her friends, but that didn't meant she couldn't be the one behind it after all. You don't have to be the one pulling the trigger to be the murderer itself._

_ After getting testimonies from everyone that could be connected to the case, their next move was to interrogate the victim's ex-wife, after getting a hint from the husband of the wife's sister. Cassandra Goth seemed like a regular woman just living her life and apparently she was waiting for them to go after her. She said Don had hurt her in the past but she would never kill him, not for something that happened so long ago. It wouldn't be fair to his child, she had said._

_ Cassandra didn't add much to the case until now; she seemed rather indifferent to the events and not once she showed a sign of emotion for the man. She said she was sorry for the little boy, but it stopped there. The rest of her testimony were cold and straight answers to the detective's questions._

_ The next one was her current husband, Darren Dreamer. He had a healthy relationship with the victim, but he seemed rather uncomfortable with the interrogation. His wife was a big issue for him and sometimes he liked to ask more than answer. Still, he could have something to do with the case._

_ All that evidence that Samantha was holding seemed way too strange; the disposal of the crime weapon at the crime scene, implying the involvement of the wife with the case; the ex-wife's cold reaction to the news and the indifferent way that they were treating the case. Besides Dina, it didn't seem like the rest of those people were affected by his death._

_ Stewart and Cole showed up around the time she had predicted with more news for her._

_ "The weapon was clean" Cole said, sitting in front of her._

_ "But guess who had its fingerprints all over the house" Steward added._

I was walking along the beach, something I didn't do quite often, but today was different and I felt like I needed that.

Last night I had let my wife go to bed mad at me and it was something I cursed myself for till now. As today she kept throwing at me a cold attitude, I took the keys to my new bike and came to Rockshore to have a break from everything, and also give Nina a break. I should have realized before that she was only worried about her sister; I had forgotten how it was like in the beginning, when I started dating her, how preoccupied she was with her sister's every move. It wasn't different now, but I had been stupid enough to just ignore that and tell her something I shouldn't have ever in my life.

When I asked Nina if she still had feelings for Don, I asked casually, because I knew it was hard to lose a person, specially a person you've had any kind of involvement in the past, even if it didn't matter now. I just wanted her to open up and talk to me and let me be the one to comfort her, but it came out some other way and she took it like I didn't trust her. I knew how much Nina loved me and she wouldn't dare to do something like that to me. How could I have been so stupid?

I walked in silence, occasionally looking over at the ocean beyond me and wondering what should be my next move. We still didn't know who had killed Don and I had my suspects, but it was hard to think when your mind was busy with something else. Dina was at our house again and it was like we were back six years in the past, by the time they lived together and I was nothing but an outsider, a mere observer of their life. But it didn't stop there… A couple of times I had seen Dina look at me… _differently_. Like she was analyzing me. It made me uncomfortable but luckily those times didn't last too long, because we were interrupted the moment I noticed the way she was staring at me.

I don't know for how long I walked and when I stopped; it was Saturday and either way I had to be home around six p.m., because eight o'clock we were playing at the Rock Cabin. When I finally got the chance to look at a clock, it was almost six and luckily I had been smart enough to turn around half the way so I wouldn't be so far from my bike when I finally got tired.

It was a short trip back to Pleasantview and there things were still the same. Nina didn't respond too much to me but things seemed to be a little better (maybe they weren't, but I just liked to believe that), and Dina wasn't there either.

I took a shower, put on a striped shirt and jeans, washed my hair, ate dinner with the kids in the kitchen, all that in one hour. I was already getting ready to leave when I asked Nina if she was coming. She didn't even look at me, she just shook her head and continued reading whatever she was reading, leaving me standing there, confused. I was irritated with her attitude, because even though she had a reason to be mad at me, I couldn't stand that kind of behavior. I always got over things quickly, but unfortunately the rest of the world wasn't like that.

And with that silent response, I left the house and drove to the Rock Cabin. There, I met with the rest of the band, played ten or twelve songs for the usual crowd of the place and then thanked everybody as I always did, leaving around eleven thirty. It was only sitting alone in the car that I realized the night had gone by so fast, and a sudden need to get out of there invaded me. Not really get out of there, just get out of that stressful situation. I wanted to drive really far, go back in time when Don wasn't dead and my wife wasn't upset with me. If she had the right to be angry, I had it too, goddamn it!

When I got home that night I was hoping to find her awake and waiting for me, forgiving everything I had said and ready for another night of good sex. But she was already sleeping in our bedroom and she didn't wake while I laid next to her. Again.

Since I was being ignored at home, I decided to devote my attention to other interesting things around me, and of course I couldn't keep my imagination from wandering around Don's murder. Now this was leaving me intrigued and I started to interrogate people around me like a real detective. I spoke to Daniel when he asked me to come with him to a baseball game between the universities of Rockshore, and he told me he had no idea.

"I don't like to point fingers" he said to me as we watched one of the students run to third base, "but I think it was really weird when Darren didn't show up that day."

"Me too."

"And he's been ignoring us too, y'know."

"What do you mean?"

The crowd started to scream and cheer when one of the universities scored again and he had to wait to speak again.

"He usually talks to me, but these days he's not even answering his phone. And the both times I've seen him he barely talked to me."

"Do you think he knows something?"

"I've got no idea. Like I said, I don't like to point fingers, but if he keeps with this attitude, people are gonna start asking."

"You're right."

I noticed that Darren and Cassandra were a little far from everybody the next days. Usually he would join our poker games and Cassandra would be seen with Mary-Sue or Brandi, but lately I hadn't seen them anywhere. They were acting a little weird the few times I saw them after Don's murder, but I honestly didn't think there would be a connection. Cassandra looked too... "special", without a better word to describe it, to just kill a man so coldly, like Don had been killed. It didn't seem like something she would do, exactly like it didn't seem like something Nina would do.

I spent my afternoons trying to figure out what had really happened over the blue house next to mine, but nothing came to mind. I guess I was having some sort of block because of Nina. I've tried sitting in front of the computer and writing anything, anything from my current book to a simple story, and nothing came out. I then moved to a different spot of the house and put myself to think about everything else, but it was like I had built a wall around myself. The only thing that would most of the times put a smile on my face was to see Steven and Leo by the end of the day.

I helped them with their homeworks, talked with them about school and other things and those days I got to know my kids a little more. Most of the times Nina would do that, even when I insisted, but now she pretty much didn't care about my actions, so I got to spend a lot of time with them. Turns out Steven was doing great at the piano, and Leonard was really intelligent and observing. The first one had got into a little fight with another colleague over a piece of sandwich, and I offered myself to go to the school and resolve it. Nina didn't object, I handled everything with the forty years-old teacher and things were back in place.

After three weeks of silence on the investigation, and a week of silence between me and Nina, she told me she was going on a trip without me.

"There's this gallery in Riverblossom Hills that's showing off some famous work and I would like to go" she said to me one of these days while she sat in the kitchen with the morning paper.

She didn't even look at me while she spoke.

"Where are we going to stay?" I asked, pouring myself some coffee.

"You don't have to go if you don't want to" Nina said without changing her tone nor looking at me.

"You don't want me to come?"

"I'm just saying there will be nothing for you to do there."

I thought about it for a second. My eyes analyzed her face with extreme caution and it was expressionless. Nina was acting like I was a piece of her clothing: if I were there or not, wouldn't make any difference for her.

"Okay" I sighed, giving up struggling. "Where are you staying, then?" I asked again.

"I have a friend who lives there."

"Who?"

"An old friend of my parents."

She was not giving me names, avoiding speaking too much. That couldn't be good.

I shrugged.

"Okay" I repeated dumbly, cursing myself for not knowing exactly what to do.

Nina gave me an impatient sigh that I decided to ignore, and as I finished my coffee, I left the cup in the sink and disappeared inside my office.

It was Wednesday when we had that conversation, and Nina left Monday to Riverblossom Hills. I'd never been there, but I heard it was beautiful during the winter, that seemed to last most periods of the year.

For one week I was left alone with my sons. I decided to give myself a forced break from Nina and spent as much time as I could out with the guys from the band and Daniel. Darren was still avoiding us and the only time I met Cassandra at the supermarket, she just smiled at me and I didn't dare to start a conversation. Since Nina had left me all of a sudden, someone else took her place, someone that reminded me of her more than it should.

We first met when I stopped by Daniel's house to ask him to help me fix my shower and she was there. Lilith smiled when she saw me and as we got to talk, I asked her to come see us play at the Rock Cabin that night. She agreed and said she would be there. Lucky Daniel didn't see us talking.

As promised, Lilith was at the Rock Cabin that night, sitting alone at a table on the back of the bar, smiling and moving her head with the song. When we were done playing once again, I asked her if she liked it and she said it couldn't have been better. We set a date to the next day.

I didn't like to call it a date because it sounded like a _romantic_ date, which it wasn't, but I didn't have a better word for it. Both her and myself had nothing else to do and for a long time we knew we had things in common but never really got the chance to hang out like real friends, and not two persons that knew each other through others. To keep things casual, I decided to meet her there, at the restaurant, instead of offering her a ride. I left Steven and Leonard with Dina and Jake, since it was late and they should be in bed early, so Dina wouldn't have much trouble. She was glad to do it.

When I got to the restaurant, she was already there, hair falling down her shoulders and a smile on her face. I gave her a kiss on the cheek and sat in front of her, ordering something to drink for both of us.

Dinner was going fine when Lilith suddenly stopped talking and started playing with her drink. I didn't have a topic to discuss, so I waited for her to say something. She sighed first.

"Can I ask you something, David?"

Lilith raised her eyes to me and that moment I saw the little girl I had met ten years ago. That one with the pimples and the orange hair, wearing heavy make-up and dark clothes; the one that thought was shadowed by her sister and had no expectations from her parents. Throughout the years Lilith had grown over that, but that moment I saw her again; the teenager she had always been, staring at me over the wine glass.

"Sure" I replied.

"Would you marry someone you didn't love?"

I frowned at her and crossed my fingers in front of my eyes.

"No, I don't think so. Why?" I asked, hesitant.

She didn't say anything at first, she just kept playing with the glass.

"Jack proposed to me."

Jack was a guy she was seeing since she returned from Italy. They had been together for three months or so and I had never seen the guy, but the screen saver of Lilith's phone was a photo of them together. I had an idea of who he was: black hair, a ring on the left ear, edgy clothes. He looked like the perfect boy for the teenager Lilith, and by what she talked about him, he really was perfect for her. I didn't understand when she asked me if I would marry someone I didn't love.

"And you don't love him?" I asked.

"I don't know if I love him" Lilith answered. "I like him a lot, but I don't think I'm ready to get married."

"What did you say when he proposed?"

She made another pause.

"I said yes."

"If you're not ready, Lilith, don't do it."

"It's not exactly that" she replied quickly, and now she seemed uncomfortable. "It's something like this: there is this person I really like, maybe more than Jack, but we never had anything, I don't know if he likes me, and how things would be between us, but I keep thinking of this person and..."

Lilith raised her childish eyes again. The sentence was left in the air.

"I'm confused" she said finally. "I want to give it a try, but what if I ruin everything with Jack for nothing?"

"Does this person know you like her?"

"He doesn't have a clue."

"You should do it" I said without a doubt. Lilith looked surprised. "'Cause if you don't, you're spend your whole life wondering."

She didn't say anything. I didn't either. I just looked at her hands, then my gaze followed her arms, her shoulder, her neck, the beautiful hair falling down. Lilith reminded me so much of Nina ten or more years ago that I felt some sort of weight on my chest. I couldn't really understand it, but it made me feel uncomfortable, so I had to say something.

"What are you gonna tell Jack? You've already told him you were marrying him."

"I'm gonna say I don't want to, I didn't know why I said yes."

"Good."

The subject ended there, when Lilith made a move with her head and opened a smile to me, saying she didn't want to talk about it anymore. That's what we did, and for the rest of the night we kept talking like old friends, making jokes and having nothing but fun.

Our night ended and I came back from the restaurant a little bit after ten o'clock. I went over to Dina's to pick up Steven and Leonard and it turns out they were already sleeping, but Dina told me it would be no problem to leave them there. They had an agitated day playing with her son and she didn't let me wake them up and take them home. I was ready to leave when she called me back and told me to wait.

"Can we talk for awhile?"

Never in my life I had had a real conversation with Dina. We didn't have anything in common and she never showed any interest in me, but right now she was standing in front of me with sad eyes and asking me to talk to her. My curiosity spoke louder than my good sense and I followed her in.

The lights in the living room were dim and somewhat romantic. She sat on one couch and I had the caution to sit on the other one, and from where I was I could see the black hole that led to the kitchen where once the dead body of Don Lothario laid. It gave me the creeps.

Dina crossed her long and tanned legs and rested her right arm on the couch. After a moment of silence, she said:

"Did you know that the two of them were having an affair?"

She raised her eyes to me and waited in silence, playing with her fingers on the couch arm. I frowned at first, because I didn't know who she was talking about. "Them" could mean so many people, and one for sure I knew it was Don.

A terrible thought came to me and at that moment I wanted to jump off the couch and just go away, because I didn't know if I could stand hearing something like that. My breathing got heavier and I bent towards her, frowning even more, swallowing hard.

"Nina was having an affair with Don…?" I asked, at the same time wanting and not wanting to hear her answer.

Dina looked at me. Her face was half hidden by the shadows and her right hand scratched the couch arm.

For a moment we stayed there: me, trying to control my anxiety, and Dina, staring blindly at me through the shadows. She was taking too long to answer and I started to get the feeling that I already had my answer, but then she finally said this:

"No. Cassandra was."

My heart felt so much lighter and the tension spread around my whole body disappeared. I sank into the couch and took a deep breath.

It may seem like I was overreacting, but I couldn't bear the thought of Nina cheating on me, especially with Don. The way Dina was acting felt like it could only be Nina the one she was talking about, it was like those obvious moments from movies: you know what word's gonna come out the mouth of the actor. Still, you are surprised when it does.

"You thought it was Nina?" she asked me.

"For a moment, yes."

And then I asked myself why. I don't know why I did that, but I know I shouldn't. If my first thought was that Nina was cheating on me, of course there was something terribly wrong going on, and when I realized that, I couldn't feel worse. Of course I decided to let it go and listen to Dina.

"So, it was Cassandra?" I continued.

Dina nodded.

"The detectives were here today. They told me they found her DNA on our bed."

Thank God she showed no sign of crying.

Time to let go of my problems and pay attention to what she wanted to say.

"Oh my God" I said.

"I know."

"Are they going to arrest her?"

"No" she said, shaking her head. "It actually makes me the most likely suspect."

Dina got impatient with her hands and eyes and for a moment we were in complete silence. It was a deadly silence, so creepy that made me feel there was something else there, something _in the kitchen_.

Stop being a child, David, there's nothing there.

"Are they going to arrest you?"

"Not yet" she replied. "They just wanted to know if I had any idea about my husband's affair and some other stupid questions. You know, it feels like they're taking as long as they can to solve this damn case!"

"Dina…"

"What?"

"Do you have any idea? Who could've done it?"

She shook her head and said no, but her cold attitude left me intrigued. There was something else there and I didn't know, and I tried to dig it out, but Dina was as closed as a safe, and by the end of the night I had more doubts than when I followed her in a few hours earlier.

Cassandra and Don were having an affair. Was that why Don was back after all? Just to see her again? It was true that he was a very unstable man whose attitudes did not always make much sense, so it would be explainable why he would've come back after so many years, to face the people who had developed any sort of disaffection for him, just to get back with the woman he once loved... or not.

And her, Cassandra was involved with it too. If she was having an affair with Don, it was because she still had feelings for him, but she had told me she was afraid of them... What the hell was going on inside that woman's head? Well, Cassandra was never much of a sane woman, right? Of course I still remember the time she got me drunk and to have sex with her, even though we barely knew each other. It was more than possible that the two of them were having an affair behind everyone's back, especially Darren and Dina's.

The repercussions of that, whenever it gets to everyone in the neighborhood, are going to be huge. It was another detail added to the motives of Don's death, and definitely an important one. In the TV shows the murders always involve someone cheating on someone, and now I could see it was true; if Cassandra had killed Don, it didn't make sense that she was sleeping with him.

That thought took me to Dina. By then I was already under covers in my bedroom upstairs. The rest of the house was quiet, but it felt like the rest of the whole damn world had quieted down too. The blue house across the street seemed like miles away; it all felt like a movie I was watching alone in my living room of my old house.

So Dina had told me the detectives had found a Smith&Wesson in her closet. It had no fingerprints and it was "hidden" in a place that she used the most. The detectives thought that, when Dina found out about Don's affair (if she had), she got mad and killed him. She already had a history of constant misunderstandings with Don and it wouldn't take too long for her to get to her limits and end it by killing Don. It made sense for them, and it made sense for me too. Dina was completely cold when she told me all that, and she never seemed upset _enough_ about Don's death in the first place. And if she did know about his affair or not, it didn't seem to make much difference.

After hours of thinking I told myself one thing: I had already too many problems inside my own home to be worrying about Dina or Cassandra or anyone else involved with Don's death. I should be concentrating on making my wife happy instead of trying uselessly to solve a crime. So I told myself that, from now on, I would ignore everything else and focus on Nina.

She came back on Sunday morning, and luckily she wasn't mad at me anymore. She gave me a big hug and a kiss in front of everybody and said she missed me. I told her the same thing and helped her with her bags. During our way home I heard about her trip and how interesting it was, but all I could hear was that she wasn't upset at me anymore.

We first left her bags in our house and then she went over to Dina's to pick up the boys. They had missed their mom a lot, especially when their dad couldn't really fulfill her place, but it had been really interesting to stay a whole week far from Nina. Like someone once said, you'll only appreciate the ones you have around when you finally lose them. Lucky for me, I hadn't lost Nina yet.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

In the middle of July Daniel called me and told me him and Mary-Sue were celebrating their thirtieth anniversary. They wanted to have a small celebration but their house wasn't big enough, and they wouldn't like to have a big party either. I said they could have it at my house, and after a bit of insistence, he agreed.

The following days I, Nina, Daniel and Mary-Sue were in charge of going after the things for the party. They invited everybody from the neighborhood, their daughters and some other friends of their own that I had never seen before, but seemed like very nice people.

Darren and Cassandra finally showed their faces again, and it looked like nothing had happened to them. Daniel welcomed them in while I was in the kitchen with Nina, and they came to greet us too. Cassandra had circles around her eyes and a weak smile that could only be noticed by someone really perceptive. Otherwise she seemed like a very pleased woman.

Daniel walked Darren and Cassandra outside and I followed Nina into the kitchen

"Is Dina coming?" I asked her.

"Yes" Nina answered me. "Why?"

"Nothing."

That moment I remembered that night, a few months ago, at Dina's house, when she told me Cassandra was having an affair with Don. At first I thought Nina was the one having the affair, and since she came back from her trip to Riverblossom Hills I kept punishing myself for thinking so fast that she was cheating on me. Now I realize that she would never do that to me, and it would be stupid even to think about it, even in a hypothetical way. At least it was the conclusion I got from all that.

"Did you notice Cassandra is gaining a little weight?" Nina asked me, occasionally, while she arranged the salad in the bowls.

"A little bit, yes."

"Maybe she is pregnant."

"I hope she is. They've been trying for so long."

"Yeah."

The doorbell rang again, interrupting us. Daniel and Mary-Sue were outside, so I went there to get it. It was Lilith and Jack.

I grinned when I opened the door for them.

"Hi."

"Hi, David."

I greeted both of them and then Lilith led Jack by the hand to the backyard. I noticed she was wearing the ring Jack had given her when they got engaged.

The night flowed nicely, everybody seemed to get along and Steven and Leonard were proud to show their abilities with the video games to the other kids. When everybody else was gone, the ones left there were me and Nina, Daniel, Mary-Sue, Darren, Cassandra, Lilith, Jack and Dustin. The younger ones were involved in a very exciting conversation and I often heard their laughs. Mary-Sue, Cassandra and Nina were somewhere near the pool talking in low voice, though it seemed more like Cassandra was just boringly overhearing their talk, showing no interest at all. Daniel and I were talking near the bar when Darren arrived, coming from inside the house.

"Hey, Dan, I hope you like what I got you two" he said and then took a sip of his beer.

"What?"

"Handcuffs."

I frowned with surprise and the other two laughed, Darren tapping Daniel on the back. Ten years and I wasn't familiar with their jokes yet.

"I'm kidding. I got Mary-Sue a nice chinaware and you two Pink Floyd's LP's."

Daniel had the habit of collecting old LP's for a long time and he was constantly seeking new pieces for his collection.

"It's not the Dark Side of The Moon, is it?" Daniel asked. "Because I got that one with Ben last week."

"No, don't worry, I'm sure you don't have those two."

Daniel just raised his eyebrows and grinned.

Darren sat on a high bench next to the counter and gazed the rest of the people in the backyard. I noticed his eyes stopped momentarily on Lilith, and then he said:

"Where is that guy from, Daniel?" he asked, and I didn't understand it right away.

"Jack?"

"Yep."

"Lilith said she met him at a bar."

He raised his eyebrows. Typical.

"And now they're engaged?" Darren kept asking, still his eyes on the couple.

"That's what she told me."

"Huh. Could you imagine that things would be so outta place like this? Dirk married Angela instead of Lilith, she meant somebody at a _bar..._"

Darren's voice was a little strange, and I figured it was because of the beer. I didn't notice it, but he should have had a lot of it that night. Daniel didn't seem to notice that change, or he decided to ignore it.

The two other men were quiet, Daniel gazing the television above our heads and Darren still watching the others. I, on the other hand, had my gaze lost somewhere in front of myself, and my head full of thoughts that I could not organize precisely.

I decided to ask what had been bothering me for a long time.

I touched Darren's shoulder and kept my voice down. Daniel could still hear us, though.

"Hey, Darren, is everything alright with Cassandra?"

He turned around and stared at me for several seconds, maybe thinking what would be the most appropriate answer.

"Why do you ask?"

Answering a question with another question. It looked like someone was trying to hide something.

I shrugged, playing his game.

"Just curiosity. I haven't talked to her in awhile, I just wanted to see if she was alright."

Darren left his beer on the counter and completely turned his body towards me on the bench. I knew he was drunk before; I just realized how much now.

"You know, David, sometimes I don't get why you're so worried about my wife" he said in a very strange voice. I was just glad he wasn't talking loud yet.

"No, I just wanted to know if she was okay."

"She is just fine, okay?"

Darren waited for the answer, and I just nodded, confused.

He turned over to the television and I sank into my thoughts again.

I faked interest on the television for awhile, and when I got bored I left the two men and went over to the women sitting next to the pool. Of course I wasn't gonna find a good subject there either, but it was better than staying in that awkward moment with Darren.

When I got there, Mary-Sue was sharing with Nina her experiences as a mother, but it wasn't what I was looking for. Cassandra raised her eyes at me when I arrived, but didn't say a thing. I took a chair and placed it next to Nina. When I sat down, she put her hand over mine.

"When Angela and Lilith were seven they moved to a new school and there..."

I didn't get the rest because I was paying attention to Cassandra. More precisely, trying to find something to talk to her, to get her out of that numb state she had been for the last weeks. All I could get was a weak smile, that I equally retributed. Her legs were crossed, her hands were resting on her lap, and for me she seemed very uncomfortable, like she wanted to be somewhere else...

I was almost getting to something that would be interesting for both of us when I saw Darren stand up from the counter and walk over us with the same annoyed expression I had seen on him when I asked about Cassandra.

"Let's go, Cassie?" he walked past me and stood behind his wife with his right hand on her shoulder.

I could feel his impatience in the air, mixed with that beer smell.

"Right now?" she asked.

Darren nodded.

"You going already?" I look at them, and Darren gave me a cold look. Nina overheard me and interrupted her conversation with Mary-Sue.

"Stay a little more!" Nina said. "There's a lot of beer there, come on!"

He gave Nina a smile.

"No, Nina, we gotta go, it's late. I want to rest tomorrow and Cassandra's got some things to do..."

"Oh, well..."

We all stood up, they said goodbye to everybody there and I walked them to the living room. Actually, we stopped halfway, in the corridor that connected the kitchen to living room and the stairs. Darren had forgotten his cell phone on the counter outside and went there to get it, leaving Cassandra and I alone in a very awkward moment.

"You were very quiet tonight, Cassandra" I said, crossing my arms in front of my chest.

She shrugged. I was leaning against a wall, next to the staircase, and she was leaning against the opposite wall, looking down, her arms crossed too.

"I'm not feeling so well these days" she added.

I took a moment before asking my next question.

"Is it because of Don?"

She pressed her lips and looked down. I sank my hands into my pockets. That hadn't been a very smart idea of my own.

"I feel sorry for Dina" she continued with that same weak smile.

"So do I."

"I can imagine how that little boy is gonna grow up with that kind of mother..."

"I think she is a little better than before" I said.

"Well, it can't be much worse than growing up with _that_ kind of father, right?"

Now her weak smile had turned into an evil, almost sadistic smile. It looked like... she was _enjoying_ making fun of Don's death. What a sick...

"I saw the way she treats her son" she started.

"What do you mean?"

Suddenly Cassandra took her hand to her face and covered her mouth. I didn't know what was happening and I immediately ran to her side, but before I could say anything she ran to the closest bathroom and locked herself in. I then I heard the common sound of someone throwing up.

"Cassandra!" I yelled to the closed door, but it was all I got. It was useless to ask her what was wrong and tell her to open the door; she was throwing up, she wouldn't stop to do that. All I could do was stand by the door and wait with the sound of her recent meal spilling on the toilet.

Darren couldn't have arrived on a worse hour.

"What's going on?" he asked me, and I saw suspicion written on his face.

"I don't know, she is throwing up!" I answered confused.

Darren pushed me aside and placed his ear against the door.

"Cassie!" he called out. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

I ran my hands through my hair, confused. Darren avoided looking at me and he seemed way over irritated.

"I told you to stay away from her" he muttered between his teeth, closing his fists.

I sighed.

"I was just waiting for you, Darren, we started talking and she felt sick!" I said casually.

I don't know what caused his next reaction; I always tried to stay calm and don't worry in every situation I found myself in, but obviously most people couldn't keep the same track. I was standing there trying to understand what had just happened the last minutes when Darren's fist hit my right cheek, leaving a round bruise on it.

The impact made me take a few steps behind and bump on the small end table behind me. Pens fell all over the ground, but that didn't matter that moment.

Darren was standing facing the door, his breathing really fast. I didn't hold myself; I turned a punch back on his upper arm and all his weight hit the wooden door making a loud sound. I heard movement outside, chairs being dragged on the stone floor, and I was sure they were coming to see what was going on.

"Why did you do that for?!" I yelled at him, still fighting against the pain on my left cheek.

Nina was the first one to walk through the door and she took a quick look at Darren before getting to me and asking me what had happened.

"Darren punched me" I muttered to her.

"Why?"

Nina looked over to him. He was rubbing his arm, still leaning against the door.

"What happened here?" Daniel asked, coming a little late from outside.

Everybody was there, staring confusedly at us. Dustin had taken his place next to the stairs, standing with his hands in his pockets and moving his gaze around; Lilith was holding Jack's arm and bitting her lower lip; Mary-Sue crossed her arms and seemed very preoccupied.

The door opened before anyone could answer and Cassandra came out looking down.

"I'm not feeling well, Darren" she said, indifferent.

"I'm gonna take you to the hospital" he told her, and they started walking to the front door.

"Hey, wait!" I called out, and all the six of us followed them to the main living room.

Darren turned around, still impatient.

"What?"

I opened my arms to show my indignation.

"You're not gonna tell me why you punched me?"

He closed his hand on a fist and brought it to his forehead, closing his eyes.

"I'll talk to you later, okay, David?" he spoke calmly. "Cassandra is not feeling well and I gotta take her to the hospital..."

"You think you can come to my house, punch me in the face and just walk away?"

I was aware of the scene I was making, but I didn't care. I knew the eyes in that room were on me and Darren and most of them were more confused than I was, but I did not care at all. I had already been punched for no reason and this time I didn't feel like saying okay, no problem, it didn't even hurt that bad.

"Look, just let me take my wife to the hospital and then we can talk, okay?"

Cassandra looked over Darren's shoulders and glared at me. She did not look good, and her eyes were begging me to let them go. I gave up.

"Just f*cking go, Darren."

If I had let that kind of word out, it was because things were really, really ugly. Even Nina got apprehensive after I said that, the air got heavy around us and I could feel the awkwardness of the moment on my bare skin.

Before leaving, Darren took a look around. My heart was beating fast and I wanted to punch him again, but I noticed Cassandra really wasn't feeling well. They left with no ceremony and the rest stayed in the living room, waiting for someone to say something.

"I think we should go, David" Daniel was the first one to talk.

"Yeah, it's late" Lilith added.

"Thank you for the lovely party, David" Mary-Sue said, and said goodbye with a hug and a kiss.

One by one, everyone else in there left, leaving me and Nina alone. For a matter of minutes, long minutes, we stayed there in silence, I standing quietly on the corner, still rubbing my face, and Nina walking around with her hands on her hips.

"What the hell happened between you two, David?"

Her voice was of a woman that was really sick and tired of something, and it made me feel like she was blaming me. Like a mother asking her son what had he done now to the neighbor's younger son.

I explained it all to her, and when I was done she just seemed more tired.

"You got punched again?"

"Is it my fault that people feel the need to punch me for no reason?" I replied.

"Why did he do that?"

"How can I know?"

"You were there."

"I told you what happened, he punched me for no reason!"

"His wife was sick, David, she was throwing up and you were with her!"

"If a bus hit her and I was with her, would it be my fault?"

When had we started yelling?

Nina blinked at me.

"That doesn't even make sense!" she said.

I sighed.

"Never mind."

"You had to do something to annoy him, David, he wouldn't have just punched you for no reason."

"Are you saying this is my fault?"

"I'm saying I'm sick of all this bullsh*t."

And with that sentence, she disappeared outside. I followed her.

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

Nina started picking up the plates and taking them to the sink. I helped her just to keep our conversation.

"I'm talking about the way you treat that woman!"

She threw the dishes in the sink and it made a loud, metallic noise.

"How _I_ treat her?" I was still a lot confused.

"Yes, David, how you have this need to go after her, how every time you're with her, something happens!"

I blinked.

"I don't get it."

"No, David, I don't get it! What does that woman have that makes you so attracted to her?"

"I'm not attracted to her!"

"Then why were you so worried about her tonight? Why are you so worried about her all the time?"

Nina had given up the plates, and was standing in front of me, her anger and frustration coming out through ever word she said. I tried to cool down, lowered my voice and asked:

"What's your point?"

"Oh my God."

Nina went to the sink and rested her hand on the counter.

"You know what I'm talking about, David. I don't understand what's your thing with her."

"Nina, there's nothing between her and me."

"Is it?"

That moment I understood the way she had felt when I asked her about Don. The only difference was that, now, she intended to do that. She had motives behind her voice.

"What are you suggesting, Nina?"

She pressed her lips and let the tears roll. Great, another fight in less than three months.

"Forget I said anything."

Nina went by me but I stopped her before she got to the door.

"Tell me!" I yelled.

"I don't have anything to tell you!" she yelled back.

And with tears starting to roll down her face, I let her go, get in the house and leave me alone there, feeling like the worst person in the world. I was lost for a second, so I started picking up the rest of the plates, folding the chairs and tables and making sure nothing was out of place. Actually I was just delaying the moment I would have to go lie down next to her and have a really embarrassing conversation.

Truth was I didn't have to face any embarrassing conversation when I turned off the lights outside and went to bed; Nina wasn't there when I opened the bedroom door. There was just the perfectly made bed. Empty.

I looked at the guest room door and sighed. She was probably there, sobbing and crying, wondering what had gone wrong between her and I. I knew it because I was doing that too.

When I laid down that night and stared at the blank wall in front of me, I had my head so full of thoughts that I wished I had some sort of valve to let the thoughts out and let me sleep in peace.

What did it all have to happen now? Why was I always the one to get punched in the face?

It didn't have to be that way. We had lasted seven good years together and the worst fight we'd had was over Steven's behavior at school, which was solved in less than an hour of good arguing. Now, after ten minutes of senseless talking, we were sleeping in different beds.

I wasn't sad. I was actually mad. Darren should be the one sleeping away from his wife, not me. I had done nothing wrong and it still looked like I was always the one suffering the consequences. I guess that's just proves how unpredictable the universe can be.

Sleep. I needed to sleep, and perhaps the next day wouldn't be so bad for me. I made myself believe that the next day I would wake up in another universe where I hadn't had a fight with Nina and I hadn't gotten punched by Darren. It was the only way I could sleep.

I closed my eyes one more time, and luckily this was the last time.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

_Samantha Campbell rang the doorbell and waited. Next to her there was Cole, with this big arms crossed in front of his chest and his eyebrows wrinkled. He was obviously thinking the same thing she was._

_ When the thirty years-old woman opened the door and recognized their faces, her shoulders relaxed, her expression disappeared. She didn't want to do that anymore, Samantha realized._

_ "How can I help you, detectives?" she asked politely._

_ "Dina Lothario, you're under arrest for the murder of your husband Don Lothario. You have the right to..."_

_ As Samantha kept reciting that familiar speech to her prisoner and closed the handcuffs around her wrists, she felt that slight hint of intuition inside her mind again. It was a little voice that kept telling her there was something really wrong about that, but Samantha couldn't get to the point, so she decided to ignore that voice._

_ The little boy was inside, watching a cartoon on television. He raised his eyes to her, not frightened or curious, or anything. He was neutral. Samantha opened a smile and pointed her hand to him. The little boy grabbed it and followed her outside._

_ When Cole pushed the woman's head down into the police vehicle, Samantha took a last look at the woman she was sending to jail. It was the look of someone that had given up._

"Nina, can I talk to you?"

She had entered the room in silence and started dressing up, completely ignoring me. I sat in bed and watched her morning ritual. Nina kept going from place to place, putting clothes on, combing her hair, indifferent to my presence. When I finally got the courage, I opened my mouth to call her attention.

At first she ignored me and continued combing her hair. I stood up and approached her, keeping a small distance between us.

"Nina, I think we should talk..."

"What do you want, David?"

She turned around, crossed her arms and waited for my answer, her eyes telling me I shouldn't be doing that.

"Why are you mad at me?"

I tried to sound as honest as I could, making her realize I just wanted to get things straight and put an end to that pointless fight.

"I'm not mad at you" she replied.

"Then why did you sleep in the guest room last night?"

Nina looked down to her feet and when she raised her eyes again, I saw nothing but sadness inside them.

"It's not about you, David" she started. "I'm not mad at you."

Before she could say anything else, she went to the door and disappeared in the hallway.

I followed her downstairs where Steven and Leonard were having breakfast in the kitchen. I guess she ran to that place to avoid talking to me, because she knew I wouldn't argue with her in front of the boys.

I wished them good-morning and poured myself some juice and took a toaster from the table. Steven started telling me about some project he was doing in school today but I didn't listen. I was paying attention to Nina, waiting for her to leave so I could go after her.

She didn't leave. Steven and Leonard finished their breakfast and stormed out of the kitchen, going after their bags and running to the car. Nina tried to follow them but I put myself between her and the doorway, making her stop. She didn't like that, but it made no difference to me.

"Are you gonna talk to me or not?" I asked her in low voice.

"Not now, David. I gotta go to work" she answered.

"Just tell me why you're mad."

"David, not now!"

She forced my right arm that was keeping her from moving on and I let it go. Nina went past me without saying anything else and I didn't go after her. She had made her point, and I knew I had to stay away. So I waited. I heard Nina take the boys outside, help them get in the car, maneuver the car in the garage and just go away.

I took the newspaper and read every single page to occupy my spare time. I went through the classified ads and there I took a little break with an ad that caught my attention. A local school was hiring teachers and I classified as a teacher. I had a master degree on English but I never got to use before, besides in some eventual lectures I gave back in my home-town. Maybe it was time to change that stagnated life I was living and do something that was gonna take my time. Of course writing was fun and kept me somewhat busy, but I felt like I needed something else, a routine. I didn't know if the school was looking for English teachers, but I could give it a try.

I wrote the number down and finished reading the paper. It didn't take long, but it was close to lunch time and I was hungry, so I left the paper on the coffee table and went to the kitchen.

There was some food left from Daniel's party that still looked good, so I put some on a plate, heated it up and ate it by the counter outside. The sun was bright and the day was pleasant, and suddenly I caught myself wishing it was raining like hell. Sometimes the rain made me feel good, and it would definitely illustrate my day well.

When I was done I left the dirty plates in the sink and sat in the living room with the piece of paper and the phone. I dialed and it rang three times until a woman answered it saying the name of the school.

"Hi, my name is David West" I started, "and I've seen your ad in the classified of the newspaper. I would like to know if you have a spot available for an English teacher."

"Just a moment."

I hated when people said "just a moment" on the phone. Sometimes it was quick, but most of the times it would last forever, so from my earlier experiences I had developed this annoyance with people who said "just a moment" on telephones.

Another woman answered the phone and introduced herself as Francine Collen, the woman in charge of that section of the school. She confirmed if I was looking for a job as an English teacher and said they had an open spot for the next semester.

We discussed minor issues for several minutes and by the end of our talk she had set an interview for me at the school. I said I would be there and promised to call if anything changed.

As I hung up the phone I stretched my back and spread my body on the couch, feeling pretty proud of myself. It was okay to be a writer or a singer, but it was different from having a permanent job such as a professor. I would have periodic payment, working hours and would be submitted to a whole organized system, which may sound scary at first but you'd get used to it. Now my free hours would be over and I would have to start organizing my time correctly. That is, if I got the job.

Throughout the afternoon I tried to find myself something to do but failed. I ran around, going from one thing to another until I had nothing left to do, and then I decided to get out. I took my bike and just drove around the downtown area, stopping at a café with my notebook and staying there until the time I had to leave to get the boys at school. I picked them up, brought them home and started making them dinner. Nina arrived after seven and she seemed in a better mood, but she was still ignoring me.

This time I decided to go slow and give her room to feel as indignant as she wanted. We didn't say a word to each other until the boys went to bed and we were left alone in the living room.

I was sitting on the couch and faking interest on the television. She had just taken Steven and Leonard upstairs and tucked them in, and when she came back I was waiting for her. This time she wasn't going to run away.

Nina realized my motives and sat in silence on her couch, glaring at the television, maybe waiting for me, maybe thinking how to start, I don't know. This time I couldn't read her, so I decided to take the first step.

"Nina..." I started.

"No, let me talk first, Dave."

Okay, that's how she wanted.

I crossed my hands and stared at the coffee table, paying attention to her words.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you yesterday."

"I know..."

"Please, let me finish."

I pressed my lips and looked at her. She seemed nervous.

"It's just that it's been pretty tough, you know. With Don's death, I having to take care of Dina, the boys... I just lost my control, I shouldn't have argued with you after the party."

"It wasn't your fault, Nina. Darren was drunk and he punched me for nothing. He is the one blamed for all this. They are."

"I know, but then I started a fight with you for no reason and..."

"You had a reason, Nina." I held her hand and stroked it. "I don't get why when I'm with Cassandra, something always happens. I don't know, it does! This was their fault, Darren and Cassandra. And I'm sorry for what I said to you that time" I added. "About Don."

Nina was all huddled like a child and there was still that sadness in her eyes. I decided not to say anything and wait for an answer.

"I don't know why I got mad at you that time."

She wiped a lonely tear off her cheek.

"I promise I won't say that again."

"You know that I hate that man, I _hate_ him."

She started rocking herself back and forth, wiping uselessly her tears. I was still holding her hand, looking at her all the time.

"Why do you hate him, Nina?" I asked softly.

"Because he's never done anything good for me!"

Now she was crying openly and I was still sitting on my couch.

"First, when we met, he was going out with a thousand of girls at the same time, then he got engaged to Cassandra, and then he got Dina pregnant and ran away. And then he even got back and turned everything upside down, even after he's dead!"

Nina was shivering a little bit, and she had left my hand.

My heart was broken to see her crying like that, she was really crying like a child, so I jumped to her side and put my arms around her, squeezing her as hard as I could, stroking her hair and telling her it would be okay.

I don't know for how long we stayed there until she calmed down. When she finally did, I suggested we should go to bed, and during our way to the bedroom she added:

"David, I don't mean to be... annoying" she said, and I put an arm around her shoulders, "but I don't want you around Cassandra anymore."

When she said that, I stopped half way between the stairs and our bedroom door and glared at her through the moonlight that came through the windows.

"You're forbidding me to see her?" I asked, ignoring the fact that I could be restarting our fight.

"David, you know that's not what I meant."

She grabbed my arms and pulled myself closer to her, and then wrapped her arms around my neck.

"I can't forbid you of anything. I'm just asking you. Please."

Nina kissed me and pressed her body against mine for a long moment. She was warm and sobbing and I held her as tight as I could. I don't know for how long we kissed and hugged, but we only let go of each other when I tucked my hands under her blouse and undid her bra. We started walking to the bedroom again. There, we both undressed and got under the blankets between hugs and kisses. I felt like Nina was trying to make up for the weeks away from me, and she did it very well. When we were done, I cuddled her and she whispered "I love you" to me before falling asleep.

The next morning, at night, we were sitting in our living room when Nina called my attention to something.

"David, have you seen Dina these days?" she asked me, sitting over her leg on the floor.

Steven and Leonard both had homeworks to do, so she and I were helping them in the living room. Steven was learning how to write and Leonard had to cut and glue pictures of things related to many themes on his scrapbook, so our coffee table was piled with old magazines, pencils, glue and scissors. Nina sat next to Steven while I helped Leonard cut out a picture of a woman with a cell phone.

"No" I answered.

"Her car is still in the garage."

"The house's been pretty quiet these days" I added.

Nina raised her eyes to me.

"Really?"

"Yes" I replied, taking the glue of the table. "Maybe she is just taking a break."

"From what?"

I shrugged.

"Nina, there's something I gotta tell you" I said all of sudden, remembering yesterday.

"What?"

"I've applied for a job at a local high school."

Nina raised her eyebrows high and grinned.

"Really? You're getting a job?"

"Yes" I retributed her smile.

"But what about your job as a writer?"

"I'm gonna stick with that."

For the next minutes we talked about this new job I had applied and Nina seemed very excited about the idea. Even Steven got interested and asked me if I was gonna be a teacher now.

"Yes, I'll be like a teacher" I answered him, "and maybe when you grow up, I'll be teaching you."

We all laughed and that moment I felt my heart get so much lighter. There you go, no more fights, no more arguing, we were back to the same place we were for the last seven years. We were truly a family gathered around that coffee table, spending some quality time together and sharing whatever we had to share. It felt good to have that again.

I gave Nina a look that tried to express what I was feeling. "I'm glad we're back to normal" was what I was trying to say, and for the smile she gave me then I realized she had gotten the message.

That night, after Nina and I made love again and we were both lying side by side, I thought about what she had said about Dina. It was true, I hadn't seen her sister in quite awhile and her house was strangely quiet the last days, but it was probably what Nina had suggested. Perhaps she wasn't feeling too good and decided to stay home a couple of days. We could pay her a visit any time we wanted to check on that.

Unfortunately that wasn't necessary. The next day Nina answered the phone around two o'clock and talked for less than five minutes with the person on the end of the line. When she hung up she seemed very worried and she pulled me to the side to tell me what she heard from the phone.

"Dina is in jail" she told me.

I frowned.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. The Social Service called me to tell me I have the custody of Jake."

My chin dropped.

"You're kidding."

"I'm not!" she replied. "I can't believe they arrested her..."

"I know, me neither..."

"What are we gonna do?" she asked after a small pause.

"We should go there" I said.

"Right now?"

"Yep."

"What about the boys?" she asked, following me to the living room.

"I'm gonna call Daniel and see if he's free."

I picked up the phone and dialed Daniel's number. It rang four times before Angela picked it up and gave it to Daniel. I explained the situation to him and he said Angela and Dirk were there but it would be no problem watching the boys. I thanked him and then hung up.

Nina had already brought the boys to the living room and explained to them what was happening. She led them to the car and we all left our house in less than ten minutes.

When we got to the building of the Social Service, it was just me and Nina. The building was new and shining, but not too tall. I suddenly got the feeling that I was entering the jail itself, like I was gonna find several cells filled with kids crying and trying to crawl out of the bars.

"Who did you talk to?" I asked Nina as we walked into the building.

"Some woman named Jesse Brown."

Jesse Brown, we soon found out, was one of the social workers that attended at that building. She was a woman around our age, a little older perhaps, but very well-dressed and polite. She led us to a small office on the third floor and told us to sit down as she took a folder from a cupboard and opened it in front of us.

"So, you're Nina Caliente, Dina Caliente's sister?" she asked us, scanning a document she was holding.

"Yes" Nina answered.

"And this is your husband, David West?"

She raised her eyes and looked me up and down, making me very uncomfortable. It was like she was analyzing a piece of meat to buy.

"So" she continued, looking away from the paper, "you're both here for the guard of your nephew, Jake Caliente Lothario?"

Nina nodded.

"Yes. Can you tell me what happened to my sister?"

"You're sister was arrested and taken to the women's center in Desiderata Valley. If you need any more information, I suggest you contact the local police department and probably get a lawyer, if you don't have one already."

The woman talked fast and right to the point, a skill probably developed over years.

"She's already been transferred?" I asked.

Jesse looked at me again in that strange way of hers and then checked another file from the folder.

"Yes, she's been removed this morning."

There was a moment of silence while Jesse went through her papers. I noticed Nina was bitting her lower lip of nervousness.

"The documents say that, since you're the closest relative to the boy, you get immediate custody of him, for unlimited time, until his mom is released and gets the right to have her son back. Any questions?"

A lot of questions went through my mind, but none of them that woman could answer. We had to talk to the detectives.

"Can we see him?" she asked.

Jesse pressed her lips.

"I'm sorry, but he was brought in today, and he's behaving really well. We've had cases of children that wouldn't stop crying after seeing their uncles or grandfathers, and it gets really hard when they start to cry, trust me."

She gave us this fake, professional smile that slightly irritated me, and then continued:

"If Jake says he wants to see his mommy or any of you, then I can let you talk to him, but now he's doing really well and I wouldn't like to mess that up."

Jesse explained a little more details to Nina (we could only bring Jake home after his mom's trial) and then we left. During our walk to the car, Nina asked me if we should go to the police department and find the detectives that had taken care of the case. I decided it was better to resolve that as soon as possible, so we got into the car and drove to the police department in downtown.

I had never been in a police department and the moment we walked in I saw many eyes turn to Nina and eventually me. Those old dudes were probably wondering what a beautiful woman like Nina was doing there.

"Hi, can I talk to detective Samantha Campbell?" Nina asked straight to the man sitting behind the desk in the big hall.

"What's your name?" the man asked, and then disappeared inside a room and came back followed by the same brunette I had seen the day Don was killed.

"How can I help you?" she asked, shaking hands with me and Nina.

"We have some questions about my sister, Dina Caliente" Nina said.

Samantha put her hands on her hips indicating that she was paying attention.

"Why was she arrested?" I asked.

"You're sister was accused of the murder of her husband, Don Lothario. Didn't my partner call you to tell you about the bail?"

"We weren't at home and we don't have an answering machine" Nina said.

"Huh."

"Can you tell us why she was arrested?"

"I'm sorry, but that's confidential information and should only be revealed in court, during her trial."

"There's anyway we can talk to her?" Nina asked.

Samantha looked at her.

"You can visit her at the women's center in Desiderata Valley. It's just fifteen minutes away from here" she said.

Nina and I exchanged a look. We didn't have anything else to say and we both knew what should be our next step.

"Thank you, detective" Nina and I thanked the woman and started walking back to the main door when Samantha called us and told us she would follow us to the women's center in Desiderata Valley. We didn't object that, so she followed us outside and told us she could show us the way.

We got to the women's center in Desiderata Valley in less than twenty minutes. It was a medium construction in the rural area between Pleasantview and Desiderata Valley, with big walls with a few lonely towers. The security checked our clothes and pockets and let us in after going through a magnet inspection. They allowed two people in a room with a prisoner, so I got in with Nina first.

Dina was wearing her normal clothes and had her hair still perfectly combed. She would seem normal if it wasn't for the fact that her expression was so severe that it could scare a little kid if it stared at it for too long. She wasn't handcuffed and she seemed happy to see her sister, but I felt that there was something very wrong about her attitude. I just squeezed Nina's shoulder while Dina sat down in front of us and Nina asked the guard to take off her handcuffs, which he did after a little begging.

"Dina, what happened?" Nina started.

Dina sighed before talking.

"They showed up two nights ago and arrested me and took Jake away from me" was all she said.

"Don't worry, we've already gone to the Social Service" Nina told her. "We're getting Jake after your trial."

"That means I'm getting arrested?"

Dina moved her eyes from Nina to me and back to Nina.

"No, no" her sister tried to calm her. "If you don't go to jail, you're getting Jake back, Dina, don't worry."

I watched Dina sigh again and squeezed Nina's shoulder a little more. There was a big window on the side, next to the door, but you couldn't see through it. I knew Samantha was outside watching, though.

For a moment they discussed minor things while I analyzed Dina, and then suddenly Nina asked me to leave her alone with her sister. I knew she must have had motives, but it annoyed me that Nina would want to hide something from me. I know, it's stupid, Nina probably just wanted to have a little privacy with her sister, that in the end wouldn't mean anything at all, so I left without arguing or saying anything, just nodding.

Outside I met Samantha, like I had expected, standing with her arms crossed, watching everything that happened in that small room.

She looked at me when I came out the door.

"She said she wanted to talk to her sister alone" I said the obvious.

Samantha grinned without emotion and got back to observing the room.

I stayed away from the window, not interested on what Nina and Dina were talking inside. I stood next to wall opposite to the door, behind Samantha.

"Why did you arrest her?" I repeated my question, using that moment of privacy between Samantha and I.

Samantha didn't turn around.

"I thought I already told you that" she replied.

"I know. I..."

She was still looking through the window, probably dismissing my comment like she would dismiss a child's comment. I insisted.

"I think you're wrong."

I would have expected her to turn around, still with her arms crossed to impose her superiority, and say something like "excuse me", but she didn't.

"Why?" was actually what she asked.

I swallowed and stood up straight to face the detective.

"I've known Dina for a long time. She wouldn't have the courage to pick up a gun and shoot her husband in the head" I said, for starters.

"David, I've worked as a detective for fifteen years of my life" she said, casually. "I've seen people do things that others would swear they would never do."

"I know. But still, I think you have more likely suspects than her."

"No, _you_ have suspects" she said.

That point she opened a mocking smile at me.

"Who are them?" she asked.

"Nobody in special."

"Then why are you bothering me with this?"

Now she was getting annoyed. She had thought I would have something useful to say, something that would help her even if she didn't ask for help, but when she realized I was just wasting her time, she got annoyed, and I got embarrassed, partially because I knew she was right.

I noticed she was getting closer, with her arms crossed to set a dividing line between me and her.

"I just thought you might reconsider your choice" I risked.

The smile disappeared and Samantha took one step closer, pressing me against the wall, and lowered her voice.

"I appreciate your concern, Mr. West, but I think I know how to do my job. The next time, think twice before opening your mouth without necessity."

I felt her breathing on my skin but I sustained the look that she was throwing at me. After saying those last words, she came back to the window, indifferent. I stayed there where I was, pressed against the wall, like I was glued to it, still feeling her perfume. I didn't quite get what happened that moment but one thing I knew: I should stay away from their investigation and keep my wondering to myself. I didn't know detectives could get so categorical like that.

For minutes that seemed to last hours, I stayed there, leaning on the wall, with Samantha standing in front of me, her arms still crossed and her gaze focused on the two women in the small room. I was playing a random song inside my head, watching time go by. There wasn't a clock, so I don't know how long it took for Dina and Nina to leave the room. When Nina stood up, Samantha immediately walked into the room and I heard my wife say they didn't have anything else to talk. Samantha then handcuffed Dina once again and one of guard took her away.

We watched they turn the corner and disappear. I took Nina's arm and started leading her outside, with Samantha behind us. The only sound, that moment, was the shoes hitting the floor and echoing on the walls.

Once we were outside, we dismissed Samantha, even though we went back the same way. Nina didn't mention what she discussed with Dina inside that small room, and I didn't ask either. She had the right of her privacy, and I should respect that. But when we got home and sat outside to watch TV, I had to ask her what we were going to do next.

Nina scratched her head and looked at me.

"I don't know" she muttered. "We may have to get used to the fact that we're raising Dina's son now."

I thought about that for awhile. Having another son. A seven years-old boy, my nephew. More importantly, Don and Dina's son. I had seen the boy a couple of times and sadly he wasn't easy to handle. Nina and I could start having trouble.

Having kids is always stressful. Lucky for us, Nina and I agreed in almost everything and we didn't have much trouble with our sons. Steven could be a little persistent and annoy his little brother most of the times, while Leo was calm and we never had any problems with him, so raising those two was pretty much easy. But I was sure that if we had to take care of a boy like Jake, things would get difficult around. What can I do? He's my nephew, it would be cruel to reject him. I guess I would have to live with that.

"Dina can get out of jail" I said.

"If she does, then somebody else killed Don."

We made a short pause.

"Do you think it was her?"

Nina raised her eyes to me.

"I don't know, I don't think so..." she sighed. "She told me it was not her, she would never do something like that, it didn't matter how much she hated Don..."

"She hated Don too?"

"Of course. She told me he was an animal. He hit her."

Not surprising.

"Who do you think it was?"

Nina bit her lower lip and I noticed her breathing got heavier.

She shook her head.

"I've got no idea, David" she said finally. "But there's one thing I'm sure: it wasn't my sister."


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

It had been four months since Dina had been sent to jail. We were in the end of November, already preparing for Christmas, when Nina came with the best news I could get.

"David, I got news!" she said as soon as I came home.

I got the job as a teacher at the local high school. I was working from eight to three, but that day we had a reunion at the school and I only came home at nine o'clock. When I stepped into my house, Nina ran towards me and wrapped her arms around my neck, the biggest smile on her face.

"What?" I asked, smiling too.

"I'm pregnant!"

She kissed me passionately, not caring if Steve and Leo were in the room.

"Are you sure?"

Nina nodded.

"Yes, totally!"

"Nina, that's great!"

I kissed her again and again and we only stopped when it started getting awkward.

"Hey, Steven, Leonard!"

I left my bag on the floor next to one of the couches as I walked towards them. They were sitting in the living room, each one on a different couch, watching a cartoon on the television. I stood between the couches and looked at them. They were paying attention to me, both really quiet and tired.

"Did you hear it? You're gonna get another brother or sister!" I told them, grinning.

Steven immediately got closer to me and I had to kneel on the floor. Leonard imitated his brother and got closer too.

"Are we gonna get to play with him?" Steven asked.

"Of course, just like you play with your brother" and I pointed Leo.

"Daddy, am I gonna have to move away?" Leonard asked me with this really sad face.

I put my arm around him.

"No, Leo, nobody is going anywhere. And stopping telling your brother he has to move away, Steven!"

I looked at Steven, trying to sound angry and objective, but he had this naughty smile on his face and I couldn't help it. I smiled too, gave Leo one last hug, reassuring him that he was not going to leave, and then went to the kitchen, where Nina was.

When I got there, she was drinking water by the counter, her eyes lost somewhere outside the window.

"Hi" she said with this weak voice when she saw me walk in.

I embraced her again and we kissed longer than ever. This time Leo and Steven weren't there to watch us.

"Have you seen a doctor yet?" I asked, with one hand holding her back and another one resting on her growing belly.

"No. I'm scheduling an appointment tomorrow."

"What do you think it's gonna be?"

Nina grinned and kissed me again.

"I want it to be a girl."

I glared at her for awhile.

"Me too."

And for several minutes we discussed names for girls while I ate a hamburger and Nina joined me, even though she had already eaten.

"What do you think of Elliot?" she asked me.

"Not special enough" I joked.

"And Julia?" she asked with a smile.

"Maybe too special."

That night, after we celebrated the good news our own way, Nina was resting with her right arm around my chest while I stared blindly at the ceiling.

"How about Katie, Nina?"

"Hm?"

She was probably falling asleep when I asked her that. Nina looked at me and I started stroking her hair.

"How about Katie for our little girl's name?"

Nina smiled.

"David, we don't even know if it's a girl."

"We can keep trying until we get a girl. So how about Katie?"

Nina giggled.

"Katie is perfect, David."

In two days Nina went to see the doctor and he happily told us it was going to be a girl. We immediately started going after new things for the baby: a new crib, toys, a potty, paint for the bedroom… We had decided to transform the guest bedroom into the baby's new room, and it took us a whole month to take care of all that. We enjoyed the holidays to paint it, and by then Nina's belly was already visible. But somebody else had a big belly to show too.

Darren had called me a couple of weeks after our incident and said he wanted to talk to me. I wasn't working then, so I decided to have him home while everybody else was out.

He showed up wearing short jeans and a baseball T-shirt that seemed a little big for him. It actually had Dirk's name on the back, and the number thirty-two under it.

I welcomed him in and led him outside, where we could sit and talk calmly.

"I apologize for punching you that other day, David" he told me. "I was in your house, your home, in front of your wife and everybody else, and I acted like a real asshole…"

"I just don't understand why you did that, Darren" I said, staring boringly at the water in the pool behind him.

"I don't know, I was drunk and Cassandra was sick…"

"Did you take her to the hospital that day?"

When he opened that big smile, I diverted my gaze from the pool.

"Yeah, yeah, I did" he said. "We're having a baby, David."

I congratulated him and tried to be as convincing as I could, but truth was I didn't have too much to talk about with him. Darren had been acting weird since Don was killed and his behavior at Daniel and Mary-Sue's party was unforgivable. I faked enthusiasm with his news and tried not to extend the topic for too long.

"But back to what we were talking before" Darren interrupted, and the smile disappeared. "I just want you to know that I would never treat you that way if I wasn't out of my mind."

Oh, yeah, I know.

"It's okay, Darren" I lied. "I just want you to know that Cassandra and I don't have anything anymore, actually we never had…"

"Of course, right, I don't know why I acted that way… But it's all good now?"

"Yeah."

He stood up and I walked him to the front door, where he stopped half way between me and the door and invited me to a baseball game here in Pleasantview.

"Oh, Darren, thank you, but I have some tests to grade…" I lied again. I don't think he noticed it.

"Oh, okay, David, see 'ya."

"See you, Darren."

I saw him walk out the door and then I closed it behind myself.

Sighing, I went to my office, turned on the computer and sat in front of it, with my hands on the back of my head, my eyes closed.

I was decided to do something about that whole situation. I was gonna do some digging myself instead of waiting for Samantha to do something. I could end up wasting a lot of my time and maybe getting into new fights but it didn't seem to matter. Darren and Cassandra were hiding something, definitely, and I needed to know why.

Dina didn't go to jail after all. She got herself a great lawyer that showed the jury that they didn't have enough evidence to incriminate her, and she walked out free of charges. Now the detectives were gonna have to start all over again, and I was ready for new interrogations and all that story again.

One of these days, after I came home from school (it was funny to think of that, because it sounded like I was in junior high school again) and had some spare time, I started putting the pieces together.

According to Dina's trial, and the statements made by the prosecutors, Dina never went out with her friends. None of them could confirm that, there was no alibi that saw her in that period of time (the prosecutors weren't clear about that, but the jury seemed to buy it), which made it perfectly possible for her to kill her husband. They couldn't find a license for the Smith&Wesson, and that suggested it wasn't registered, or even robbed. Therefore, it could have belonged to Dina.

The prosecutor continued; Dina and Don had an argument that ended in the kitchen when she got the gun from the bottom drawer of the counter and shot Don. The drawer had residues of powder and a scratch that was probably made when she took it with certain clumsiness. Also in the kitchen they found three sets of fingerprints: Don's, all spread on the kitchen counter; Dina's, also found everywhere on the counter; and Cassandra's. That moment they called her in to testify. She was wearing a dark, long dress, with her hair falling down her back and light make-up. With clean and straight answers, she told the jury that she had been there often and the fingerprints were explained by her having sex with Don on the top of the counter. Dina didn't show any kind of reaction to that information.

In the beginning things were going bad for Dina, but when her lawyer spoke up, she was brilliant. She said that the detectives saw what they wanted to see, and there wasn't enough evidence to convict Dina. But what killed it was her final speech, and I think that settled that Dina didn't do it. At all.

I didn't believe it was Dina since the very beginning. There were two other people that were way more likely than her.

First, Cassandra. Cassandra was married to Don for some time and then he left her, stole her money and was having an affair that ended on Dina's pregnancy. Since then, Cassandra acted all weird. I used to see her as this mature woman, a woman who had achieved everything in her life, and kept strong, even through the hardest times. She was the best in college, had a perfect job and a "perfect" husband. When Don ran away, everything she had disappeared, and she became this… I wouldn't say bitter, but yet _strange_ person. Cassandra started wearing provoking outfits and going out to places nobody ever imagined. I think something happened with her mental state after Don left, it was kind of shaken. She wasn't normal. That night, when she kissed me at Dirk's party, that was completely unexpected, unexplainable. And everything that happened after that. Cassandra went through an awful period until she and Darren started hanging out, and I think then she settled down again. Not entirely, though.

She and Darren were fine together, you could see it at the events they attended, but I felt there was something missing there. I don't know if it's just the way they both are, but it feels empty between them. And when Don came back with Dina and Jake, she had that breakdown when I visited her (under Darren's order). Cassandra told me she was scared. Was it really true? Or was she just trying to elude me? It was possible.

If you think about all that, it does sound possible that Cassandra would kill Don after all. He could've been the love of her life, and he let her down in every possible way. So he comes back with this whole new life and goes after her. Maybe he wants her back, or he's just up for a little fun, either way, they begin this new relationship. I don't know where they were going with that, but Cassandra could be playing with Don. Don has the reputation of a womanizer, so she accepts his sex offer, and after getting all she wanted, she gets her revenge by killing him. That's it for her. Revenge.

It may sound extreme, but it could be true. Like Samantha had said, she had seen people do things nobody would believe. Or was it something else she said…? Either way, there can never be limitations or judgments when you're dealing with a crime.

There's somebody else who could've done it too. Darren never got along with Don. Ten years ago, he hated that man for having the woman he desired and not taking care of her the right way. When this man is gone and Darren sees the chance to get Cassandra back, he does everything not to waste it and achieves what he's ever wanted. Don is forgotten, Cassandra and Darren start their life from scratch and it seems that everything is going alright. But Don comes back, and he is stalking Darren's wife. Darren sees what Don wants and, moved by the need to protect what's his, he kills Don. A bullet in the head.

Both of them could have done it, because they could get a gun and they were both smart to wear the gloves and leave the gun inside Dina's closet to incriminate her. Cassandra wanted them to find out they were having an affair. They didn't show up at Daniel's party and they were each other's alibi. So the answer to all that was definitely there.

The holidays came, Nina and I decorated the tree in the living room and bought Steven and Leonard two presents each. On Christmas Eve we all went to Daniel's house. The house was full; most of the women were in the kitchen, preparing the meal; the rest was spread around the house, some in the living room, some upstairs, some outside. Nina was with Brandi, Mary-Sue and Cassandra in the kitchen, and I was standing with Darren, Daniel and Jack outside, watching the kids swing.

"She's spending the night alone?" Daniel asked after I told them Dina preferred to spend Christmas alone, but let us bring Jake.

"Nina told her to come several times but she just said she wanted to be alone."

I shrugged.

"I think she needs some time to think, right? She was in jail for awhile, it must be hard for her…"

As I said that, I looked over to Darren's face. Either he didn't hear it, or chose to ignore it.

"Lilith didn't want to come" Jack suddenly said.

I hadn't spoken with Jack too many times before, actually I think I never had a conversation with him, but I observed him and I knew his type of person; with the cool and expensive clothes, the black hair perfectly messed and the shining ring on the left ear, he was the dream date of girls in high school and college. He knew how to talk to women and he had this natural charm. He went out and met girls and wasn't afraid to get dumped or anything. Suddenly all that reminded me of Jonathan. Oh my God, Jack could be Jonathan's brother or son, except that Jonathan had become much classier afterwards.

"Why?" Darren asked.

"She said she wasn't feeling too well" he said, tucking his hands in his pockets. "I told her we should come, all of her family would be here…"

Well, that guy could be cool and attractive, but he truly sucked. He was so boring that it made me want to get out of there, I don't know why exactly.

I came back inside and as I walked across the kitchen door, I saw the women in there. Cassandra was with his huge belly, a little bigger than Nina's, and they were all standing and talking and laughing.

"I remember when I was pregnant…"

It seemed that all those women talked about was their past and what they "remembered".

I went to the living room, where Lilith, John and Jennifer were at, watching a football game on television. I stood behind the couch where the Burbs were sitting and gazed the television.

"Who's playing?" I asked.

"Square and Maxis" John answered me.

Oh. I had no idea who those were.

I heard the door on my right open and Dustin came out of the bathroom and sat next to Lilith on the other couch.

"Did they score?" he asked and John answered, sarcastic "Yeah, right."

I watched football for a few moments and then my attention was drawn to Dustin, who bent over Lilith and whispered something to her. She seemed a little uncomfortable with his proximity, and then she shrugged. Dustin whispered something else and she giggled.

Her gaze met mine and I grinned. Lilith seemed embarrassed, giving me a shy smile and turning her attention to the television, like a child caught doing a bad thing.

At midnight we all wished merry Christmas and sat at the table to eat Mary-Sue's delicious turkey. Dirk and Angela, who I only saw once, when I arrived, showed up and sat with us, and I noticed their hair was messy. I smiled to the thought that came to me after I realized that.

The meal was great and the ladies were rather too talkative for me, but it was fun to watch. I noticed Darren was having several glasses of wine, but I didn't mention it to anybody. I just prayed that I wouldn't get punched that night.

Everybody finished eating and the guys set the table for a poker game. Everybody joined: Daniel, Darren, Dustin, Dirk, Lilith and, of course, me. As always, it was down to Darren and Daniel and this time Darren won it with a perfect all-in. Daniel thought he was bluffing and accepted the challenge with a pair of aces. Turns out Darren had three queens in hand, winning the game with a remarkable move.

By the end of the night we were all pretty tired and willing to go home. The kids had already crashed on Lilith's and Angela's old beds, and it was hard to wake them up and force them to get in the car. Lucy, John and Jennifer's daughter, cried for awhile 'cause she didn't want to wake up, but the boys were fine and when we got home, I had to take them upstairs and leave them in their beds.

When I closed their bedroom door, I noticed the guest room door was open. Nina was inside, moving her gaze around, rubbing her belly.

I hugged her and gave her two kisses, one on the ear and the other one on the neck, and then rested my head on her shoulder, rocking slowly with her body. She put her arms on mine and rubbed them.

"We're gonna have to go through it all again, David" she muttered to me.

"I know."

"Are you ready?"

"I never stopped being ready."

Nina giggled and turned her head to kiss me on the lips.

"This time will be easier because we've already done this" she joked.

"Twice" I added.

I held her stronger and we stayed there, in silence, for a couple more minutes, just watching the empty room around us. Actually, the room was full with baby stuff: crib, changing table, toys, potties… but it still didn't have that little person who could fill it.

The little person was born on March 5th, and her name was Katie, like Nina and I had agreed. When we brought her home, the boys were fascinated with the little baby and kept making us questions. I soon noticed how both were very protective with their sister, and I said to Nina that it was good, because whenever Katie would bring a boyfriend home, she would have to deal with her brothers first.

Nina laughed when I said that.

"I wanna see when they start bringing girlfriends home" she replied.

"Huh, you think I'm gonna let'em..."

Nina gave me that look "I know you're kidding, because you're not that kind of father". I smiled at her and kept washing the dishes.

The days passed and we realized Katie wasn't that hard to deal. She didn't cry a lot (after a few months, Leonard cried so much that you would want to leave the house), staying quiet and sleepy most of the times. Around that time I started writing another book that turned out to be a success, but I had to take a little break from the band because I couldn't do everything and still help Nina take care of Katie. The guys understood it well.

Just a few days before, Cassandra had had her baby too, and we had been there to see it. The little boy with brown skin was very cute, and I guess I had never seen Cassandra so happy in her life. It was the joy of being a mother for the first time, especially in her age. Darren was happy and smiling all the time too, but he had been there before with Dirk, so no surprises there.

We went there to visit, bringing Katie with us. Darren and Cassandra led us to the bedroom where the little boy was sleeping and we talked in low voice for awhile. I think Darren got bored of talking about the same things with every single person that came to visit, so he offered us a drink. Nina said no and stayed there in the bedroom with Cassandra, while I followed Darren to the kitchen. It was fun to watch how close they were now, knowing that in the past Nina wouldn't go to their Christmas party because of her enmity with Cassandra, and even funnier to know that it was because of me.

In the kitchen, he grabbed a box of juice and two glasses.

"Had to get rid of all the beers 'cause the smell made Cassie sick" he told while he poured the juice in the glasses.

"Yeah, I know how it's like" I said. "Nina couldn't smell tuna."

"Oh."

There was silence as we both drank the juice, and then Darren said:

"So, I heard your sister-in-law has been released."

I didn't feel like talking about that at that moment, but I realized there was an opportunity to find out what he knew or thought about Don's death and everything.

"How's she holding on?" Darren asked, drinking his juice once again.

I finished mine and left the glass in the sink.

"Fine, everything's fine" I said, thinking. "We help her with Jake, Nina talks a lot with her… It's been hard, but she'll get over it."

"We can't say she's lost a lot, can we?"

I think Darren meant to be funny because he gave me a nervous smile and finished his juice too. I felt this kind of tension build around us, and from now on I knew I should be careful with what I would say. Wanting to hear more out of that comment, I frowned and crossed my arms in front of my chest. We were both by the sink, I leaning against it.

"What do you mean?"

Darren lowered his voice.

"Come on, David, you know Don's never been much of a person, right? I mean, we've had some disagreements in the past, but we both know he was a little…" and Darren added the gesture that indicated someone wasn't really… _sane_.

"He treated Dina very bad…" I said, vague.

"Exactly what I'm saying. Dina is much better off without him."

Darren started walking away and I stopped him with a question.

"So you think he deserved it?"

Darren turned around on the doorway as he realized I wasn't following him. I kept my pose while he shrugged.

"Look, I don't think any man should be punished with death, you know what I'm saying? But I think the person who killed him was very clever. It freed us from having to stand Don for the rest of our lives..."

He didn't give me the opportunity to speak as he walked away and left me there in the emptiness of his kitchen. I heard his steps on the stairway until they disappear, not taking a step after him.

So Darren enjoyed the fact that Don had been killed. He didn't say it, but he could well admire the one who did it. If it wasn't himself...

I walked slowly after him, organizing my thoughts. If it was Darren, and he was just playing with me with those comments, then Cassandra had lied about her being inside the house with Darren during that time. He could have lied to her too and then she lied to the detectives, or she could know and decided to protect her husband. Or maybe secret option number three, where Cassandra does a little drama for Darren saying how much she can't stand Don anymore and he kills Don to please the wife. She gets off the dirty job and they promise to cover their backs in court.

And did Darren know about their affair? I don't think so, because Cassandra was alone when she walked into the courtroom that day to testify. For some unknown reason, Darren wasn't there with her. And for him to be so happy with the new baby, he could not have known about the affair.

As I got to the bedroom upstairs, they were leaving, going downstairs. I stopped halfway the staircase and turned around.

We talked a little longer in the living room and then Nina and I announced we should be going back home. We had left Steven and Leonard at Dina's house to play with Jake and it was already getting late and we should go there to get them. We said goodbye to the Dreamers and went back to our house.

"You don't know what Cassandra told me" Nina said as we started walking back.

"What?" I asked while pushing Katie's baby buggy.

"When you two went downstairs, she asked me not to tell Darren about her affair with Don."

So Darren does not know.

"Really?"

"Yeah, she told me something like 'I know that we're not really close, Nina, but I need to ask you something. Darren and I are so great right now and I couldn't let a stupid thing get in our way. I know it was wrong to cheat on him, but that's past, and I love him more than anything'."

"How did she say that?" I asked.

"What do you mean?"

Nina looked intrigued at me.

"How did she sound?"

"She was saying like we were friends from a long time, I don't know, David..."

"Never mind."

"Can you believe that?" Nina continued.

"I couldn't believe that she was sleeping with Don in the first place..."

"Yeah, but to ask us not to say anything to Darren..."

I muttered in response and left the subject hanging as I thought to myself what could that contribute to my personal investigation.

Cassandra didn't want Darren to find out because she liked the place she was with him. I couldn't know if she faked her concern or if it was real, because if it was, then she regretted being with Don and was worried about his death. If it wasn't, she was faking because she did not regret Don but wanted to keep Darren. That's complicated.

"We're not gonna say anything, are we?" Nina suddenly interrupted my thoughts.

"It's none of our business" I replied.

"I know, but it's hard to know that their living in this kind of lie, right..."

"You get that feeling when you look at Darren, right?"

"Yeah, it's awkward to know something he doesn't..."

"And that could ruin his marriage" I added.

"True."

We kept walking in silence until we reached our place. Nina took Katie to breastfeed her and I sat in the living room. I didn't have to pick the boys up, Dina said they could come over because we lived across the street.

When the night started to fall, Dina showed up at our door with Steve and Leo. She was wearing a top and short jeans that showed off her long tanned legs.

"Thank you bringing them over, Dina..." I started to say when she interrupted me.

"No problem, David, I know they could come by themselves, but I came here to tell you two things."

I looked over to Nina, who was sitting on the couch and watching TV. Leonard and Steven had disappeared upstairs.

"What?"

"First, Leo tripped and fell down, and I think he hurt his knee. I cleaned it but I think it still hurts... Also, I decided to move some things around, and I need help to hang the television on the other wall..."

Her eyes blinked at me, and for a moment I thought how beautiful she looked that day. I don't know if it was for the resemblance with the sister, or if it was just because how she presented herself, I just know that, for a thirty years-old, she looked like a teenager that moment.

I swept those thoughts away and looked over to Nina again.

"Nina, Dina asked me to come help her with her TV."

Nina looked back from the couch.

"Do you need any help?" she asked.

I looked at Dina.

"I just need someone to help me pull it up and hang it on the wall."

Nina looked at me and nodded.

"Okay."

Dina and I smiled at each other and I followed her to her house.

The house seemed much smaller now that she was living by herself. The expensive things they had were still there but you could still see there was something missing there. It felt so empty and sad. When we got there the little boy was playing with his dinosaurs and monster trucks in the middle of the living room and he didn't say a thing to us, not even when I smiled. I helped Dina with the television and then I came back home, and as I watched Katie sleep in her baby buggy next to Nina in the living room, I thought to myself how lucky I was not to have the problems the people around us were having.

_Samantha Campbell crossed her legs under the table and sighed to the pile of papers in front of her. Cole was standing right next to her with a cup of hot coffee in front of him._

"_Lemme see the wife's testimony" Cole said, picking up a paper from the pile._

"_We've already seen it before, we need to find somebody else…"_

"_Not the current one."_

_Samantha glared at Cole while he scanned the file in front of his eyes._

"_She works as a pharmacist?"_

"_Development of new drugs."_

_Cole bit his lip._

"_I can't believe we've missed it."_


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Days went by with no news. After a week or so we received the invitation to Lilith's wedding. They were getting married in the very beginning of April and she really wanted us to be there.

"My parents and Jack insisted on this big party..." she said to us when she came by to give us the invitation, without Jack. "So, I'm gonna have to get a dress and do all the make-up..."

"Oh, but the party is the best thing" Nina said with a smile.

"Really, not matter how long the ceremony takes" I added, "the after party always pays off."

"We'll see" she replied smiling too. "Well, I guess I'll see you guys there, then?"

"Of course."

"Right, sure."

"Okay, then."

Nina had to go after a dress to wear while I took out of the closet that tuxedo I wore to my own wedding. She came back with this beautiful blue dress with green details and open on her right leg that fit her perfectly, and I joked that she should not let the groom see her in that dress or he may call off the wedding.

Then we went after little tuxedos for Steven and Leonard and Nina insisted on taking a picture of them wearing the new clothes. We also had a little talk about what they should not do in a church, and as always they made a lot of questions and we tried to answer them all.

The following days I kept thinking about what Lilith had told me that one night we went out while Nina was traveling. There was something obviously bothering her when Jack asked her to marry him and she had told me she did not love Jack, but yet another person, so it was surprising that she was going to marry him after all. I wondered if I should talk to her or just let it happen, but when I saw her so happy and smiley at the dinner party before the wedding, I decided to go with the second option.

Just like they had done for her sister, Lilith's parents invited everybody close to us to a dinner party before the ceremony. When I met her there, she greeted me with a kiss and it seemed like she couldn't stop smiling. At first I thought it was nice the way she was acting, but then it started to worry me, because more and more her smile looked so forced and her behavior did too. Unconsciously, it was like she was trying to convince someone of something, and that left me disgusted.

I was in the living room watching a Led Zeppelin concert on TV with John and Dustin while Mary-Sue, Nina and Cassandra talked at the corner. I looked around. John seemed neutral staring at the TV, but Dustin had this lost gaze that he directed from time to time to the TV. His mind was probably somewhere else, just like it seemed to be at our last poker game. He bet in garbage all night and when I made him sit out he didn't say a word and left early. I asked the other men there if it was all right with him, but they just shrugged and said they didn't have a clue.

At the corner Nina was talking with Mary-Sue and Cassandra, and for the first time I had the feeling that nothing could go wrong. Cassandra seemed relaxed and even excited by her talk and it seemed like they were best friends since ever. She didn't look worried or impatient or sad, she was _happy_, and I sighed in relief, not really sure why.

Lilith and Jack walked into the room, holding hands. She had that forced smile on her face, that didn't disappear when they both sat on the couch, Lilith between her future husband and Dustin. I noticed that when she sat down, Dustin moved away, I don't know if just for education, but also because he seemed bothered to be next to them. It didn't take long for him to stand up and leave the room without saying a word.

Lilith was standing in front of me. I smiled and she smiled back.

"Do you know this is one of their best concert?" Lilith said while looking at the TV. "My dad say it's hard to find this one."

"Louis gave him on his birthday" John said.

Before Lilith could answer, Jack started kissing her face and she turned around to kiss him on the lips. I looked away because I thought it wasn't polite to stare.

"I'm gonna start setting the table" I heard Mary-Sue say.

"We'll help you" Nina said, and Cassandra followed her.

"I'm gonna help you too" I suddenly said, and then went after them.

We set the table, everybody came and ate together, all laughing and talking out loud, and for a second I could let go of all my observation of those people and just have fun with them. It didn't matter that I thought that Darren or Cassandra could be Don's killer, or that Dina was trying to draw my attention to her all the time; what mattered was that that time we were like a family and I just had to enjoy those good times.

As people started to leave the table, things quieted down. Some went to the living room, some to the kitchen and Nina and Dina went outside to check on the boys. I was left in the dining room with Lilith, Jack, Darren, Jennifer and John, and when I stood up, Lilith stood up too and followed me. We were in front of the stairway when she called me and asked if she could talk to me upstairs.

I didn't realize what she could possibly want from me, but she had this sincere and not at all fake smile on her face, so I decided to follow her and leave everybody else behind.

There was a set of chairs upstairs where we sat under the dim light of a lamp. Lilith started talked in a low, soft voice and the voices downstairs seemed to fade.

"I want to ask you a favor" she started.

"Sure."

"I want to sing a song with you at my wedding. I mean, at the party."

I felt my heart start to beat a little faster and couldn't help a smile.

"Sure, I'll do it" I answered.

"I want to do this nice thing for Jack and I thought you could help me."

"Right, I'll do it. What do you want to play?"

Just with that dim light I could see her blushing and then chuckling.

"I wrote a song" she replied. "I would play it for you, but I didn't bring my guitar."

"You wrote a song?"

"Yes."

Lilith looked shy. That moment I remembered ten years ago and how amazed she looked when I played her my songs.

"I wrote some time ago and I thought that this would be a nice opportunity to show it."

"Of course" I replied. "But I didn't know you were already writing songs. And singing."

"Just a little bit. But my songs aren't as good as yours and neither is my voice."

"Come on, I heard you sing a couple of times at the Rock Cabin. You sing great."

"Thank you."

I don't know what was going through her mind that moment, but I felt I was back in time, and sitting there under the dim light of the lamp in her old house, we were ten years younger. She was a teenager and I was twenty-six, no kids, no wife. Friends talking, like we had met hundreds of years ago. Lilith always made me feel this strange way and I still couldn't translate it to words. It wasn't the same thing I felt for Nina but yet Lilith could catch my attention and don't let it go. I didn't know if I saw myself in her, because we did have some things in common, maybe more things that I had with Nina, and she always seem to look up to me, since that day we met and she asked me if I was a writer. Lilith and I had something the rest of the world didn't have and couldn't understand as well. And it would be that way for a long time.

"When are you free so I can play it to you?" she asked.

"Are you busy this Tuesday after four p.m.? I've got a little break from school."

"Tuesday... is fine."

Lilith stood up and I did too.

"What time?" I asked.

"Five. I can go to your place and bring my guitar."

"Alright."

She started walking back downstairs and I followed her with my hand on her shoulder. When we got there, I let go and she went to the living room while I went outside.

Nina was standing next to Dina. Jake, Leonard, Lucy and Steven were running around, playing something I couldn't understand right away, so I ignored them and I stood next to Nina. She gave me a smile, but behind her back, her sister gave me and up and down look that made me uncomfortable for awhile.

"Dina was telling me that Jake told her he wants to be a physicist when he grows up" Nina told me.

I crossed my arms in front of my chest.

"How old is he?"

"Seven" Dina replied.

"Does he even have physics lessons?" I asked, quite confused.

"Of course not" Nina replied then.

I don't know for how long we stayed outside talking and talking, watching the kids go running by us, warning them over and over about the pool. I told Steven that if he fell in the pool I would not take him out.

When it started to get really late and people were already leaving, I suggested Nina we should leave too. She nodded and we went after the boys because we hadn't seen them in awhile. They were sitting upstairs talking in low voice, Steven probably telling the others his scary stories. Nina and I called them and we left, right after I said goodbye to Lilith and confirmed our Tuesday appointment.

"What are you doing Tuesday?" Nina asked me while we walked to the car. She was pushing Katie's baby buggy.

"Lilith asked me to sing a song with her at her wedding party."

"Really? What song?"

"One she wrote. And Tuesday she's gonna come over and she's gonna show it to me."

"Alright. Can you take care of those three?"

"Sure, I'll have them doing something while she's there."

We got in the car and I drove back to my house. When we got there, Nina left Katie in the bedroom, I tucked Steven and Leonard in and came back to the bedroom where Nina was already wearing her pajamas and lying under the covers.

As I lay beside her, ready to sleep, I felt her hand on my arm and then she got closer to me under the blankets. I opened my eyes and looked at her. She started softly kissing my upper arm, telling me silently what she wanted. I rolled over and kissed her and without saying a word to each other, we started making love. When we were done, Nina gave me one last kiss, whispered goodnight and rolled over to sleep.

On Tuesday Lilith showed up at my door carrying her guitar on her back. I welcomed her in and we sat in the living room. Leonard was watching TV upstairs and Steven was across the street playing with Jake. They had had a little misunderstanding earlier and Leonard refused to go play with them.

Before we started I went to my office and took my own guitar. We had to tune both of them and then finally she could start playing her song.

That moment I was completely amazed. Of course her song still sounded a little amateur, but it had a really big potential. And so did her voice. Lilith knew how to sing and she just missed a couple of times, but the result of all that just blew me away.

"Lilith, this song is amazing" I said after she stopped playing.

"Really?"

I saw her blush again and her eyes seemed to sparkle for a moment. I chuckled.

"Really, this song is... great. No, excellent."

"Thank you."

I was really proud of her because basically what she knew, I had taught her. And at least I expected her to recognize that. But by the way she looked at me, I think she did.

The next minutes we worked on the song and I showed her some things she could improve. Lilith listened to everything and agreed with everything. I slowly learned the lyrics of the song and after one hour or so, we were done. I offered her something to drink and then we spent the rest of the afternoon outside, talking, playing cards, laughing. Nina came home at her usual time and we insisted on Lilith staying for dinner but she really needed to go, so we said goodbye and I only saw her again at her wedding, eleven days later.

_"You're gonna like to see this."_

_ Stewart walked into the room followed by Cole. Both had serious expressions and the first one was carrying his notepad and going through his notes, very concentrated._

_ Samantha was standing with a hand on her hip and the other on the table covered with photos and papers. Cole stood next to her while Stewart preferred to stay on the other side, still looking at his notes._

_ "What you got there?" she asked._

_ Stewart finally looked up from his notes._

_ "Cassandra's got license to shoot."_

_ "How did she get it?" Samantha asked again._

_ "Her father collects guns and taught her when she was young."_

_ Stewart waited for Samantha's answer. It didn't take too long._

_ "Well, I think we've got our main suspect right there."_

_ And as she walked out of the room she didn't see the smile between the other two detectives._

We got there pretty early but there were so many people that it was little hard to find someone we knew. The boys were amazed to see all those people, I guess, and they got a little too excited. I had to keep an eye on them all time since Nina had to care and push Katie's buggy around.

Right on the last row of benches of the church sat Darren and his family, quiet and watching the others go by. I pointed them to Nina and we walked towards them, sitting next and starting to talk, but we didn't have much subject. Cassandra and Nina soon engaged into this excited conversation about babies while Darren and I remained in silence. The boys were outside, playing with other kids.

I started watching the people around me and there were really a lot of people. I saw Daniel running around, carrying a camera around his wrist, and other times I saw this woman running around too, and she reminded me of Jack. Probably his mother or an aunt. It didn't take long for him to arrive, but as always, the bride was late.

I saw Angela and Dirk walk in and they sat next to me and we chatted for awhile. Minutes later a woman came by and said they needed to come with her and they disappeared from my sight.

I turned my eyes to the big red carpet on my left. It was just like the one Nina had walked on our wedding day, and that brought back some memories. Eight years or so had gone by so fast, we were so much older now, three kids, jobs, family... I remember when I met her, the first time I saw her in that night club with her sister a couple of guys. I didn't really believe that you could fall in love with someone at the very first sight, and I didn't, but I guess that if I hadn't seen her that moment, things wouldn't have turned out the way they did. People used to say she and her sister were sluts, but those people never really met her. They only did it when I started going out with her and brought her into their circle. The Christmas party she didn't want to go because she knew what those people said about her... Strangely enough they had no problem hanging with Don Lothario, who was much worse.

Watching that big aisle I started to wonder about what would happen after the night was over. I pictured Jack and Lilith just like me and Nina now: happily married, lots of kids, attending to small parties and family reunions. I had this nice image of Lilith holding in her arms a little boy, around three years-old, and a little girl in Jack's arms, both with red hair like their mother. The four of them were sitting under a big tree with a picnic basket next to them and the radio playing in the background. I was so involved with the thought that I didn't notice the one person who was missing when the wedding started.

Everybody stood up, and so did I. The hired band started playing. Flashbacks of my own wedding came to me, and I knew they were coming to everyone there who had gotten married once. I saw crying faces, laughing faces, neutral faces, all of them looking to the back of the church, impatiently waiting for the big moment when the bride walks in and continues towards her future husband. Upon the altar, Jack waited with the biggest smile across his face, also impatient for the moment Lilith would walk in.

From that moment on, I don't really know what happened. I only understood it two days later.

Lilith walked in and had all the eyes of the church on her. She walked about a third of her path with her arm hooked on her dad's arm, in a red and incredibly beautiful dress. Her hair fell down her back and it followed the movement of every step she took. When she went by me, our eyes met, and then I realized something was wrong, but there was nothing I could do right now.

She stopped there, covering only a third of the red rug. Daniel stopped and so did the rest of the world, except for the band. They were probably confused but decided it was best to keep playing, and I think they did well; if the church went quiet the moment, things would have been a hundred times worse.

Lilith stopped and let go of her father. Her head turned in every direction and it stopped on Jack. Everybody's smile had faded and their expressions turned into confused and anxious faces, waiting for what would happen next. Embarrassed, Daniel pointed his arm to her and whispered for her to move on, but Lilith ignored him. Slowly, she turned around and started walking back to the front door. Now people were talking, whispering with hands covering their mouths, pointing and looking shocked. My eyes were focused on her and they didn't let go. When she finally crossed my way, she was practically running, and in that whole room, I was the only one she looked at before disappearing through the front door.

The band finally stopped and the talk grew even more in the room. The guests weren't covering their mouths or trying to be discreet; everywhere you saw confused looks, waiting for an explanation. People sounding surprised, shocked, outraged. Lilith had run away.

Daniel started going after her and Mary-Sue followed him. Jack came running all the way from the altar and disappeared through the door behind the other three. The talk grew louder, people started moving, even the band looked as shocked as the rest of the church.

Nina touched my arm.

"What's going on?"

I looked at her.

"I don't know."

Angela and Dirk were behind us, discussing out loud because the talk in the room made it hard to hear each other. Dirk gazed over Angela's shoulder and met my eyes, making a move with his head and frowning, asking me if I knew anything without speaking any words.

I simply shook my head and then my attention was driven to the people who had started leaving the church through all the doors, slowly walking outside, making a crowd in front of it. We waited for most of them to leave and then followed them.

Nobody there knew what to do, but I noticed the talk starting to diminish, and then it seemed that the whole city had quieted down too to hear Daniel and Mary-Sue fighting with their daughter in front of the church.

There was a small plaza in front of the church with a big tree in the middle and benches and street lamps. Lilith and her parents were close to the street, and we could hear them yelling from here, though it was hard to understand what they were saying. I left Nina and the boys with Angela and Dirk and moved through the crowd till I found a spot with a good view of them. Jack was standing a few steps away, looking down at the trio.

I guess I was one, if not the only, person to understand what was going on. Lilith had come to the realization that marrying Jack was a bad idea. Unfortunately, she did it too late, while she was walking down the aisle with her father next to her. I agreed that the situation was incredibly embarrassing for everyone in there, but it felt somewhat nice to know that Lilith had done the best choice, instead of preferring to avoid the drama and perhaps commit a huge mistake. It wasn't everyone who would have had that courage.

Several minutes later we saw Daniel reluctantly hand over his car keys to Lilith and she walk away from her parents, still in that wedding gown. Jack had tried to convince her to go back into the church, but Lilith was determinate, and leaving everyone in there more shocked than before, she took her father's car and left, without saying anything to anybody else.

And there we stood. A crowd of nearly five hundred people, waiting in front of the church for a wedding that never happened. Daniel and Mary-Sue came back to us and announced loud and clear that the wedding was off, while Jack didn't have anything to say and just walked silently to his best-man and asked for a ride. As expected, his relatives went after him for explanations, but I never knew if they got any. I came back to Nina and asked if she had heard what Daniel said. She was holding Katie in her arms.

"I heard it!" she replied, and then I noticed Lilith's sister behind her, covering her mouth with her hand and Dirk with his arm around her.

"I can't believe she _actually _did it!" Angela exclaimed from behind Nina.

We all turned to her.

"You knew she was going to do this?" Nina asked.

Angela nodded and saw the nervousness in her.

"We were getting ready and she kept saying 'I don't feeling like doing this, the ceremony is going to be so boring, I don't wanna get married…' and I told her she had to go through with it or quit it then!" Angela's words came out so fast that she had to make a pause to breathe. "I can't believe she just… ran away!"

"Do you know why she did it?" Dirk jumped into the conversation.

Angela shrugged. Nina turned back to me and sighed.

I decided to stay quiet. I might have a clue of why Lilith ran away (actually, I _knew _it), but it was not my responsibility to give any explanations or try to put all the pieces together. Truth was she ran away because she didn't love Jack, and I thought that was a pretty obvious motive, but nobody else realized it. I had to admit it got way too far, with all those people there at the church, watching her humiliate not just herself, but Jack and his family, but I had to support her. In the end, that was the right choice, whether it looked like it or not.

I heard Daniel talking loud enough for everyone to hear that that was typical Lilith; never finish anything and don't give a damn about other people's feelings, and I wanted to go over there and tell him to stop saying that. His daughter could not be as perfect as her sister (as Daniel thought so), but she was much more than he thought. She was smart and she cared about other people's feelings, but she was used to make bad choices and it just turned out that this was another one. At the beginning, at least.

"I guess we're going home" I gave the hint to Nina and then she put Katie back in her baby buggy and I took Leonard and Steven by the hand.

"Bye, guys."

We said goodbye to whoever we met in our way, and when we got to Daniel, I couldn't hold myself to tap him on the shoulder and say "Your daughter knows what she's doing." I didn't explain why I thought that, I left before he could ask anything, and as we got in the car, I told Nina everything I knew. It wasn't much, but it made us talk all the way to our house. Now we are only left to wonder who Lilith went after.


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Nobody heard from Lilith the next days. She had turned off her cell phone on purpose and she wasn't at home either. She left her father's car in his driveway and her own car was parked in the garage of her building. Mary-Sue and Daniel and even Nina were starting to get worried, but I could not let myself fall into that, not even if I wanted to. I had this weird confidence that Lilith knew what she was doing, but Nina and everybody else's constant worrying made me start to doubt this confidence. In the end, it was possible that Lilith had made a huge mistake; I couldn't rule that option out, and so I, too, began to worry.

Two days after the disastrous wedding, Monday, for my surprise, Lilith knocked on my door, and when I opened it, she had the biggest smile on her face. I couldn't be more confused when I saw her standing there, wearing her regular clothes, with such an excited expression. The ring she was once wearing was gone.

"Hi, David" she greeted me with that common shyness.

"Lilith, what are you doing here?"

"I'll explain it all to you. I've already been to my parents, they know I'm okay. Can I come in?"

When she told me her parents already knew everything, I cooled down a little and let her in. It was the middle of the afternoon and Nina and I were at home with Katie. Lilith sat down in one of the couches and I went after Nina, who was in my office, and let her know Lilith was there. She immediately jumped out of her chair and followed me to the living room, where we both sat with Lilith to listen.

"Lilith, where were you? Your parents were worried!" Nina said to Lilith. Still, she couldn't get that smile off her face.

"Calm down, Nina, everything's okay. I'm going to explain everything."

Nina sat on my side and we both looked at Lilith. She took a deep breath and began talking.

"Okay, the reason I came here after I left my parents is because you" and she pointed at me, "were the one who convinced me to do it, and I thought I owed you some explanation."

When she said I was the one who convinced her, I tried to interrupt, but she didn't let me.

"I know you didn't tell me to run away on the ceremony, but if you hadn't told me that when we went out, I would have never had the courage to do what I did… So, I think you should hear what happened after that from me."

Lilith was acting someway I had never seen her before. She had this happiness inside her that was completely unnatural and I could not figure where it came from. All I had left to do was to listen.

"After I left the church, I went to my dad's home, left his car there and took a cab to Rockshore."

She made a small pause, perhaps waiting for us to ask something or show some reaction, but we didn't. So she swallowed, like it was something hard to say, and then she let it out:

"I went after Dustin."

I got it right away, but Nina didn't seem to understand it. I raised my eyebrows to Lilith.

"Oh my God. He… was the one you…?"

Lilith started nodding and pressed her lips in a smile.

"But you two never…" Nina started.

"Well, we never got to anything, but I was with him all the time, whenever my family got together, when I came back from Italy, before that, even after I met Jack." She gesticulated with her hands as she talked. "We were always good friends, but I never… _realized_ what I really wanted. It was when Jack proposed to me that I finally saw it."

"Then why did you say yes to Jack?" Nina turned to ask.

"I got confused! I mean, I was happy with him, but I wasn't sure if it was worth to break up with him and go after Dustin…"

"But you did that anyway, didn't you?" I asked. "You left Jack at the church to go after Dustin."

Lilith looked at me and pressed her lips again.

I wasn't scolding her, but I had not liked at all that she only decided to follow my advice after the wedding was all done. She had a good time to not be confused anymore, and she only decided to think about it when she walked in the church. She simply put it away.

"David, I'm not proud of what I did" she started again. "I was decided to marry Jack, I swear I was, but when I woke up that day, I couldn't… I couldn't stop thinking of Dustin. I didn't want to do it, but Angela kept pushing me. It was just when I walked in the church that I saw that I just couldn't marry Jack. You have no idea how embarrassed I was…"

Lilith was seriously embarrassed and sorry, so I decided not push her any further. She must have already gone through a lot with her parents, and she walked in with such a smile on her face… I wanted to know how it all ended.

"I get it that what I did was horrible, but… you were the one who said it. I should not marry someone I just didn't love. I hate myself for not seeing it before…"

Nina stretched out her hand and rested it on Lilith's leg. I suddenly felt like we were her parents, even though we were only ten years older. I thought she was gonna cry, but she opened a big smile to us, her eyes getting a little wet.

"Let me tell you what happened after I left" she insisted, and I couldn't help a smile too. "I went after Dustin, and..."

Just say it, for Christ's sake!

"He said he loved me too, and we're moving in together" she finally said.

If you think about it, those weren't fantastic new like we would expect. But I noticed, and Nina noticed too, how much it meant for Lilith. So we shared with her our happiness. It was something to be happy for; even though it wasn't symbolic, like getting married or having a kid, for an example, it still meant something. Lilith had the courage that very few people had, and she was rewarded for that. Things were finally getting into place for her.

After Lilith left our house, Nina and I got back to our living room where Katie was, and we looked down at her, both thinking about what had just happened. Nina put her hand on my back and I noticed she was smiling.

"When did you two go out?"

I bit my lower lip and looked at her. Luckily, she was smiling.

"When you went away. It was just one time" I answered.

Like a child who's recently learned to count, I raised a finger to her to evidence my one date with Lilith. Nina giggled, pulled down my finger and kissed me.

"Can you imagine that, someday, our little boys are going to get into this whole thing of 'love' and 'getting married'?"

"Yeah, I know."

**_A/N: HEEEY, if you've read so far, thank you! I would just like to ask you, following readers, for more feedback. FYI, I've completed this story AND written four more chapters of my upcoming untitled project about David's sons and daughter... However, for me to upload the rest of this story, I would have to go through four more chapters and make corrections... which can be REALLY boring. So, I would like to know, are you guys eager for the rest of this? Or can I just wait for when I'm in the mood? Answer as a review ;) - jks11235813_**


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